Remnant's Angel of Death
by ZetaCommand
Summary: Former Master Vampire Hunter. Retainer. Friend. Monster. Traitor. After half a century and the commission of an unforgivable sin, Walter C. Dornez had finally accomplished his mission to destroy Millennium's research. But rather than the oblivion he had expected Walter instead wakes up in an unfamiliar time and place - with a shattered moon...
1. Chapter 1

**Remnant's Angel of Death**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing or RWBY.**

* * *

 _We had a good run Sir Integra..._

 _\- Walter C. Dornez, The Angel of Death_

* * *

Walter woke up gasping. The last image he saw was the burning zeppelin of The Major before the fires consumed him in one massive explosion. However, rather than oblivion he seemed to be alive and well, lying on a grassy field.

Walter slowly stood up and looked around him. Rather than a grassy field as he had initially perceived, it was now clear that he was actually on an empty spot in a forest. Obviously he was no longer in London.

"Strange." He thought after a while.

There was no indication of his arrival unless you counted the imprint of his body on the grass. No footprints, tire tracks, summoning circles...nothing. Looking down, Walter saw that while he still had the clothes he wore in his fight with Alucard, his body was that of his teenage self. Which meant...the process done to him by The Doctor was not reversed.

After puzzling over the matter for several minutes Walter decided there was nothing to gain and decided to find some answers. After checking his position based on the sun and shadows Walter headed what he guessed to be north.

Along the way, meticulous as ever, Walter took stock of what he had on him. When he had left Sir Integra he carried with him three of his gloves, all of which were made with alchemy and contained his deadly, iconic monofilament wires. Upon this discovery he sighed with relief. If ever he would have to fight at least he wouldn't do so barehanded.

The rest of his check was not as long. The remaining items he had on his person were a pack of cigarettes, a simple lighter...and a spare monocle. As these were the only items he had on him when he fought Alucard he didn't know why he had expected more.

After hours of walking it was dusk and Walter had finally found something, or rather something found him.

Walter's heightened vampiric senses detected them long ago, but based on what he could infer they were simply animals so he only paid them the most basic heed. Two hours after the creatures started following him Walter began to think they were hunting him and he was right. Another hour had passed before his pursuers had finally decided to show themselves.

They came out of the woods snarling and slavering, clearly hungry for blood. Their bodies were as black as night while their eyes glowed red with hostility. The only other color on them was white which comprised of their claws, some spikes on their bodies and most prominently a skull like mask that perfectly matched the contours of their heads.

"Now what sort of animals are you?" Walter asked calmly as he fitted his white gloves.

The largest of the creatures stood on its hind legs and gave out a belligerent roar. However, before it could complete the motion it was split cleanly in half by a near invisible force.

"Heel beast!" Walter sneered, "You are not even pups compared to the The Black Hound of the Baskervilles."

As the rest of the Grimm finally realized what happened to their pack leader, Walter's monofilament wires lashed out, shredding them to pieces before they could even react.

Walter was disappointed. Not only were they weaker than an ordinary artificial vampire of Millennium, but he felt that these comical creatures could even be bested by trained humans, provided they were adequately armed.

"Hmm, curious." He mumbled as he noticed they were slowly but surely disappearing.

Was there a supernatural creature nearby? Were these its familiars?

Walter briefly thought of Alucard but quickly dismissed the thought. Not only did he see him die, but these things weren't his style even if had somehow managed to survive The Major's attempt on his un-life.

He spent the night on a tree, needing only an hour or so to "rest" and kept alert for the remainder of the time. He noticed several of the creatures in the distance so Walter suppressed his presence. While easy to deal with he knew nothing of his current situation and so decided to be prudent about how he went about things. When he looked up, however, he received the biggest shock of his life.

The moon was shattered.

Bits and pieces could be seen orbiting its main body, but there was no mistaking it.

"Definitely not in London, or Earth for that matter."

Morning arrived but Walter wasn't the least bit bothered by it. Whatever The Doctor did to him apparently included an immunity to sunlight, however, Walter noted that he felt a little bit better at night.

He continued his walk, and hours later came across a small village. A plain white wall appeared to encompass its perimeter and he could see people inside. Walking on a dirt path, he entered the village and, unsurprisingly, received questioning looks. Looking around, Walter judged that a merchant or someone in business would be the most familiar speaking with travelers and sought one out.

He came across a stall that was apparently empty, until a tiny head popped up from behind the stall.

"Hello customer! What can I get you?" A cheerful voice asked.

Walter found himself staring at a child of probably no more than 10. Bright blue eyes stared at him with mirth and curiosity as the child peeked above the counter.

"My name is Walter and excuse me, but may I ask where I am?" Walter said introducing himself.

"My name's Lucy! You're in the town of Verden!" She answered, "Are you traveling somewhere?"

"Actually I'm lost," Walter admitted, "And I would like to ask for directions. Is there someone in this village that can tell me where to go?"

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" She called into the house.

"What is it?" Came a voice.

A man emerged from the house wearing an apron. After reintroducing himself, Walter asked his questions again and was directed to the house of the village leader. As he walked, Walter took in his surroundings again and found the village to be relatively small to what he had seen over the years. The people were seemed to be lively enough, and here and there he saw a few of them take out devices he was not familiar with. The former butler internally sighed, at least he was not stranded in some primitive place.

Once he reached the town hall, he entered and was told to wait for the mayor. After waiting for almost an hour Walter was ushered into a simple office. When asked about his circumstances Walter gave a heavily edited version of what happened to him in London. Essentially he claimed that the airship he was on crashed and he was the only survivor of the group, which was technically not a lie. He was willing to bet one of his gloves that Sir Integra and Seras Victoria would leave no enemy alive, especially since the latter had now become a full fledged vampire.

"In any case, Mr. Mayor," Walter concluded, "What is the nearest city from here? I intend to make my way there soon enough."

Walter could see no point in staying in this rural place.

"Hmm, if you're willing to wait, there will be some civil authorities coming from Vale in a few days," The mayor responded, stroking his mustache, "They'll be here for a census and viability report. Maybe you can ask them for a lift."

"A report?" Walter echoed.

"Yes, you see this is a pilot village, the Kingdom is trying to expand its land and wants to establish a hold outside of its walls." The mayor explained.

"I see, I suppose waiting would be the best option," Walter noted this information, "I do have another problem though, in that I only have the items on me..."

"Ah, I see," The mayor said, "Well, we do have a guest room here in the hall but you'll have to earn your keep. Not hard labor mind you, are you good at anything in particular?"

Walter hid a smile. As the butler of the Hellsing Organization he was well versed in not only their paranormal dealings but also domestic affairs. As such he was actually underselling himself when he stated his abilities when he informed the mayor of his skills that he thought were most useful.

"Hmm, your skill set seems varied, I think we can use the extra hand," The mayor extended his hand, "Welcome to Verden Mr. Dornez!"

* * *

~ Several days later... ~

The next few days were lazy for someone like Walter. Not only did improve the affairs of the town hall. While they weren't exactly bad at it, Walter had years of experience running an organization as he had often handled the affairs whenever Sir Integra did not have time to deal with specific matters. Walter didn't overextend himself, however, and only handled things as they came up, rather than make unsolicited suggestions. The slow pace also made Walter realize that he was virtually free from any obligations now, whether it was to himself or to an organization. The sole reason for his betrayal was so that he could fight Alucard but now, he didn't even have a foe to face.

During this time, Walter had discovered various things about his state. One of which was that he was, undoubtedly, a vampire. This was proven when he tried to eat and he almost retched out the food. Thankfully he was alone at the time. This proved a problem, but the silver lining was that vampires didn't need to feed as much as humans did. The case of Seras Victoria was proof of this, in that she had maintained her enhanced strength though she refused to drink blood.

But what of soil from his birth place? Could it be that because he was an artificial vampire he was not constrained by such a weakness?

Walter decided this was a matter for another time. At least he knew the specific weaknesses of a vampire and he could use a mental checklist to solve his problems as they came up. However, the matter of blood came up a day later.

As he was occupying his assigned station that day, a few men burst in the hall stating that Grimm had surrounded their group while they were out of the town walls. They pleaded for the mayor to send some help in rescuing those who couldn't escape.

Sensing an opportunity, Walter requested to accompany them. During his stay, he learned that creatures that had attacked him were called Grimm and they were attracted to negative emotions of people. They also attacked them on sight, regardless of their emotional state. The conversations he had listened to revealed that these Grimm were apparently an accepted organism in this world, albeit a hazardous one. The mayor was surprised that Walter could also fight, though the former butler downplayed his skills to simply knowing how to combat humanoid opponents.

As the group moved into the forest they heard a scream making them pause. Walter extended his superior senses outward and located the source. However, he would need to do something before that...

Giving out false directions, he stated he would investigate one area while he sent the others in another. The concern for their fellows extinguished any objections and the group ran off. Walter smiled- human were so easy to manipulate.

Arriving at the place where he heard the scream, Walter saw that most of the survivors were already dead, except one. A group of the wolf like creatures known as Grimm surrounded the terrified villager as they snarled and snapped.

Needing to hurry, Walter dispatched all but one of the creatures. The remaining one was flung into a tree and bound there by one of his wires. For good measure, Walter even had it's snout muzzled with another wire to keep it silent. He would have use for it later.

"T-Thanks!" The man stood up shakily, "I thought I was a goner, like the others..."

"Oh, but you are," Walter smiled, "Tragically, the creature tore out your throat before I could do anything to stop them..."

"Wait...what do you-"

Before he could finish his sentence Walter was upon him. His fangs extended outwards as his mouth clamped onto his victim's throat. Within moments he was feeding on precious life fluid, but stopped himself from being engorged, lest there be negative side effects.

As the corpse dropped onto the ground, Walter felt much better than he had in the previous days. He severed the neck of his victim just in case he might transform into a ghoul. Once he was sure he was clean of blood, Walter called out in a loud voice to the other villagers.

The group arrived a minute later and looked in shock and sadness at the scene.

"Sorry, I didn't get here in time." Walter said with a sad tone, "by the time I got here, the Grimm were ready to attack me as well."

The villagers looked at the rapidly evaporating corpses of the Grimm. Walter had damaged them in such a way that they looked like they were beaten in a mundane fashion, rather than his signature style. However, he wasn't done yet. He made sure his back was turned to the captive Grimm, and with a twitch of his finger he released the beast.

It dropped from the tree and shook itself angrily. Feigning surprise Walter turned around. As it leaped to attack him, Walter fought the beast with thoroughly mundane punches and kicks, always making sure to hold back his strength every time. Finally, he landed a chop to the back of its neck and brought it down.

The villagers stared in surprise that a young man was able to beat the creature with his bare hands. Not wanting to seem suspicious, Walter shook his hands and feet as if they were bruised from the fighting.

"What should we do now?" Walter asked. No matter what their next course of action was, it would give them an activity to take their mind off any suspicions they might have of him.

In the end, they decided that they couldn't bring back any of the remains as it would not only slow them down, but it might lead the Grimm back to the village. The villagers settled for bringing back any personal belongings to be given to the families of the deceased.

The day finally came when the ships from Vale would arrive. Walter heard the engines of the ships as they approached but something seemed off.

"They're early." The mayor mumbled, confirming Walter's suspicion.

The ships' approach seemed too fast for a mere inspection and when they did land it was a hasty one. Another sign of trouble was that the engines remained on.

Three pairs of men in uniforms rushed out and waved their arms frantically.

"There's a large horde of Grimm approaching!" They yelled before the reached the welcoming group.

As a large number of the villagers were present, the news spread quickly and the people murmured amongst themselves uneasily.

"How many?" The mayor asked nervously.

"Too much to handle," The leader of the Vale party said in a grave voice, "You'll have to evacuate the villagers."

This time cries of despair rang out from the crowd.

"We can't take all of you in," The Vale official said with a resigned tone, "We only have three ships with us..."

"I-I understand..." The mayor lowered his head, "Can you take the children with you?"

"We can, at the very least."

The mayor turned and began to relay this to the villagers. Walter had heard all of this as he was near the mayor. Entire families wept as parents gave instructions and their farewells to their children while assuring them that they would catch up.

Walter knew this was a lie. These people were just civilians and they were neither armed nor trained to deal with the Grimm.

As the children were ushered into the ships, he turned to the mayor who was speaking with the Vale officials.

"Mr. Mayor," Walter said, "If I may make a suggestion? It could help some people survive."

"What would that be Walter?" The mayor asked hopeful.

"Let the Grimm into the city," Both officials looked shocked at the suggestion but Walter pressed on, "Once they enter, destroy the exits with ship's guns."

Walter indicated the chin mounted guns of the vessels. Though there was obviously not enough ammunition to fight off a horde of Grimm, they could be used in another capacity.

"The people at this time should leave by the other main gate and once they are through, the gate should be destroyed as well."

"I see! The Grimm would be trapped here!" The Vale official stated, "But the walls would not hold them in for very long..."

"Its better than nothing," The mayor conceded, "Thank you Walter, you have a bright future ahead of you."

Walter nodded.

The Vale official wasted no time in conveying the plan to his subordinates. Once all the children were inside the vessels, Walter included, though heavy with passengers, they took off.

Once in the air Walter saw the mistake in his suggestion. He had suggested the plan as if he were dealing with a sentient opponent but the Grimm were not. They were advancing at an animal equivalent of a jog but once they had the small village in sight they rushed towards its with murderous intent. They streamed through the gate and Walter could see that roughly half the villagers were already out through the other gate. Some left in vehicles full of passengers, others in carts and even a few were on horses, but the rest were on foot...

As the ships circled around, Walter saw through the window he was looking at that the Grimm had caught up with the stragglers.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy." Walter thought. He filed what he learned of the Grimm during his time here as it would probably be useful in the future.

"Sir, most of the people made it through the gate," Walter's superior hearing heard the pilot through the open cockpit door.

"I see...let as much as you can through, then destroy the gate." The Vale official said with a resigned tone.

Walter heard the weapons on the ship fire and after a few moments, he felt the vessel shift and head for another direction.

"Seal the windows. Let's head back to Vale."

Walter's enhanced eyesight saw the remains of the gate as the ship pulled away. Before the shutter could fully close, he caught a glimpse of the people trapped in the village being devoured.

* * *

Author's note:

Here's another scenario I couldn't get out of my head unless I type it. So, as its stated its a Hellsing/RWBY crossover, starring (not) everyone's butler Walter C. Dornez. If this chapter seems rushed, that's because it probably is. I simply wanted to introduce Walter to the world of Remnant as quickly as possible so that we can enter the story proper. I also don't think that people would want to read a 2-4 chapter of Walter living in the village. For example, the little girl he meets? In my notes Walter was originally supposed to grow a bit fond of her but knowing his personality he might forget her after the Grimm wrecked the village. He was also supposed to drink her blood once he found out that the Grimm had killed her. This scenario was both too long and a bit out of character in my opinion.

Those not familiar with Hellsing might be wondering why Walter didn't just stop the Grimm horde when he can slice through buildings with ease. Well, first off he doesn't know too much about the world and so is wary of revealing himself. Hellsing's activities aren't really public as Ep. 1 of the OVA has shown. Second, he's far from a hero and eben then he's not exactly the nicest person in the show and I'm not talking about his betrayal. Whether or not he betrayed Hellsing, Walter is easily the scariest human in the show next Father Anderson because of his personality. I can think of other reasons but that would make this section too long. Essentially, I plan to keep his core personality intact for now though it may change as time goes on.

If the village seems too undefended, the only thing I can say is that Vol. 4 of RWBY shows us that places like these do exist.

Lastly, if any of you are wondering - Yes, Walter does get a weapon aside from his wires, but its probably not what you might expect.

Due to growing time constraints, I've decided to give my stories arcs so that the ending can stand on its own without affecting the end game so to speak. It might take a while but I see the arc end of one so this is probably the right choice for me.

See you in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Settling In

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 **I do not own RWBY or Hellsing**

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"+" Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

~ City of Vale ~

Walter walked through the darkened streets with a lit cigarette in his mouth. Another day, another set of books finished. After arriving in the City of Vale the children of Verden were taken to an orphanage where they were registered and given a place to stay. The place where they were sent to made Walter, who was mentally far older than anyone in the group, realize what the adult's chances were of surviving the Grimm attack or at least reuniting with their children.

When asked Walter gave his full name as well as the fact that he was from Verden, the latter of which was technically not a lie again. He also listed his real birthday, which was only a few months away and this made him almost a legal adult under the laws of Vale.

During his time in the orphanage Walter once again made himself useful, reasoning that if he ever needed a place to fall back to he would at least have someplace that would welcome him or his abilities. Once he felt that he had sufficiently blended in, Walter took to reading to discover more about this world he had ended up in. Unfortunately, most of the books in the orphanage were quite insufficient for him since they were, understandably, for children. Since this was the case, Walter made arrangements with the head official to visit the city library and due to his seemingly helpful nature, combined with the fact that he would soon have to leave as an adult anyway, he was allowed to do so.

Walking in the dark didn't bother Walter at all as he processed the information he had learned that day. He had started with history as that would be an excellent area to read up on whatever he thought was important. For modern day references he could always check the yearly publications.

Apparently, there were far less humans in this world than he had imagined. The main reason for this was the Grimm who seemingly had no other disposition than to attack Humans and their creations. Aside from the creature's sheer number of types and their ability to detect negative emotions little was known of this world's bane to its sentient inhabitants.

Another surprise for Walter was the mention of Aura and Semblance. Aura was said to be the manifestation of one's soul and granted the person who unlocked it a myriad of abilities that would probably put them on par with an artificial vampire whereas Semblance granted a far more unique ability. Other than how widespread and public it was, the former Hellsing retainer didn't really find this too surprising considering he had seen a far more horrifying manifestation in the form of a bloody spectral army courtesy of Alucard prior to their final battle.

"Well, its not hell but it won't be paradise anytime soon," Walter mumbled as he digested the day's information.

Though he initially panicked Walter calmed down once he realized that Aura and Semblance usage was public but not universal. Whatever the reason was, not everyone could use it, otherwise the destruction of Verden would not have happened, still it begged the question did he have a soul?

After a while Walter thought there was a good chance he had. If Alhambra and Rip Van Winkle could become Alucard's familiars then that meant Walter had one as well, despite becoming an artificial vampire. At least he would have a reason to explain his abilities if ever he would be pushed for an explanation.

Patting his pocket Walter cursed internally as he discovered he was out of cigarettes. His one source of amusement, since his lungs couldn't be damaged like ordinary people's, had ran out. Frowning Walter made a detour as he looked for a convenience store. Its not like it was that late as the library closed at 8:00 p.m. Walter extinguished the partially lit cigarette and placed it in the empty box just in case he wouldn't be able to find a store that would sell him any.

He came across a brightly lit sign but was disappointed. The sign clearly said "Dust Shop". Ah, that was another thing of interest. Dust was apparently this world's magic flour. It could used in a variety of ways, one of which was, predictably, combat purposes. However, despite his curiosity it wouldn't be of any use to him.

As he prepared to move when the glass in front of him shattered as a body was propelled through it. Walter saw that it was a young girl dressed in red and black who was responsible for the breakage as she jumped off the body on the street. His surprise grew when she unfurled her weapon, a gigantic scythe with many moving parts. She had also mercifully turned off the music from her headphones that was loud enough for _everyone_ to hear.

"Well, looks like it wasn't such a waste after all," Walter smiled+.

More men, all armed with guns or curved swords streamed out of the store to confront the young woman. They didn't seem to notice him and Walter had no intention of stepping in. This was an opportunity to witness this world's combat! If asked why he didn't help, Walter could always claim that he was incapable of fighting.

As the fight progressed Walter saw first hand how Aura, at least he assumed that was at work here, worked. Despite being hit by such a huge and fearsome weapon the men only acted like they were hit by a blunt object and not cut in half. Still...

Walter frowned, the girl didn't go for the kill when she struck an opponent. Even if she was as young as Walter estimated her to be, to him the use of a weapon and innocence was a paradox. When he was her (estimated) age, Walter had reaped through entire crowds of ghouls and Nazis, sometimes they were Nazi ghouls. If she had at least taken a few down he could almost forgive her flamboyant style of fighting.

"Well, you were worth every penny, truly you were," A man with a bowler hat and poor taste in dressing stepped out to see the conclusion of the fracas. Walter took a sniff at the cigar he was smoking.

 _Tsch! The cheap kind!_ Walter was hoping there would be some in the shop but even if there was, it wouldn't be worth getting.

"Its over!" The little girl in red shouted.

"Yes, yes, arrest me and charge me for robbery and homicide," The orange haired man nodded amiably.

"Huh?" The girl looked confused.

The man aimed his cane at Walter's direction and its bottom opened up to reveal a barrel.

The girl looked fearful once she realized what the orange haired man intended to do but Walter...Walter smiled. +

"Oh dear! It appears cowering in fear in the shadows has its limits." He flicked a finger and sent a wire to remove the offending tip of the man's cigar.

Both the man and young girl's eyes widened once they had seen the tip was severed.

"How terrible that one can't walk home at night without being accosted by hooligans." Walter stepped out of the shadows.*

 _Flick_

Another wire lashed out, this time severing the front part of the cane/gun. The man's jaw fully dropped this time once he had seen what happened.

"Excuse me, but I have a curfew."

Walter sent out a single wire to strike the man on the chest. He calibrated it to incapacitate a regular human based on his experience on Earth. This would serve to test the Humans on this world.

As he had seen earlier the man's aura protected him but flung him across the street and the would be robber crashed into some trash cans.

"Woah!" Walter turned to see the young woman had approached him almost unnoticeably, likely due to her lack of ill intent.

"Whatwasthat?!Howdidyoudothat?!WasthatyourSemblance?!" She spoke in a rapid fire girlish voice but more than the pitch of her voice quick movements, Walter averted his gaze from her eyes. Her Silver eyes.

Walter cleared his voice after a few moments of intense questioning.

"Uhm...he's getting away." Came a weak, elderly voice.

Both turned to the direction the shop keeper was pointing at and saw the orange haired robber scaling a building using the side rungs.

"Oh shoot! Almost forgot!" The silver eyed teen exclaimed, "Are you gonna be alright mister?"

"Uh-huh," The shop owner nodded.

"Come on! Let's go get him!" She dashed towards the building.

Walter was astounded at her speed. Though he could follow her, the velocity was impressive. He wondered briefly if it would only increase as she matured.

"You can go on ahead kid," The old man said to him, "I already have everything on camera, besides that man is a notorious thief."

"Of course, why wouldn't he be?" Walter hurried as he thought of how unlucky he was.

Damnation! If he was caught on camera it might mean the police would have a profile on him. As he didn't make any plans yet on how to proceed on this world and whether or not he was labeled as a vigilante or innocent passerby, he wanted to start out without complications. At the moment he did not have the name of Hellsing to pull strings and remove any public records.

"End of the line Red!"

He reached the rooftop in time to be buffeted by an explosion. Walter looked up to see the silver eyed girl on the ground, dazed but otherwise unhurt. Well, at least he could be a bit more rough without a witness. +

* * *

~ Roman Torchwick, Rooftop ~

What a night! Roman was clearly annoyed that he wouldn't be able to make his quota this month. What was worse, his boss was coming to pick him up. Roman thought briefly of finishing off the brat but quickly dismissed the idea. A murder would only make the police more determined in their search for him rather than a passive sweep that would be the result of a botched robbery.

He sighed as he reached into his pocket to fish out a fresh cigar. As he tried to get his lighter to work he heard footsteps.

"You're a stubborn one aren't you Red?" He raised his holdout gun but instead of the red caped girl, he saw the neatly dressed young man.

"Congratulations, you defeated an adolescent," He drawled as he stretched his fingers. Roman could see something faintly shimmering in the air, "Ready for the next age group?"

"These kids get stupider every year," Roman thought reaching into his coat. One more red Dust crystal wouldn't matter.

"Oh, let me guess you want some candy too kid?" Roman began to throw the crystal before his hand suddenly felt very light.

"Yes, I'll take a sample if you don't mind," The teen made a very unnerving smile as he caught something in his hand. _It was Roman's hand_.

He looked in horror at the clean stump that now started gushing a torrent of blood. His blood. Once he realized what had happened Roman screamed hysterically, both by reason of pain and horror. Roman staggered back before his heel caught the edge of the roof and he tumbled over.

* * *

~ Walter, Rooftop ~

"Hmmm, so this is a red dust crystal." Walter turned the item over to better examine it.

"Ugh, what happened?" The girl beside him groaned.

"It appeared you were caught by surprise when he detonated this." Walter showed the red dust crystal.

"What?! Did he get away?" She asked.

"Actually he tripped and fell over the ledge." Walter said. Thankfully he had thrown the man's severed hand behind an exhaust vent as he pried the crystal free from the fingers.

Suddenly the roar of an engine interrupted their talk as a ship rose from below the building. Walter's keep eyesight saw an open hatch with bloody marks and concluded the man was saved by whoever piloted this vehicle.

Suddenly a shadowy figure with glowing eyes stepped out. Walter was suddenly on guard as he couldn't see into the shadows of this woman. It meant that there was some power at play here.

There was a weapon discharge and he saw the girl beside him firing her weapon and for the second time that night Walter was surprised. First it was a scythe that propelled its user with gunfire and now it was a proper gun?

The effort was in vain though as the figure blocked them all with ease with an extended hand.

Shoulder. Leg. Arm. The former retainer's earlier bafflement turned to disgust. She was purposely aiming at non-vital parts. Did this girl not realize the situation was now serious?

Walter suddenly felt intense heat and he looked around to see several fiery vortexes approaching them in several directions. He looked at the mysterious woman on the plane who made a crushing gesture her hand. He knew what was coming next. However, before he could make his escape, Walter felt wind rushing around him and was suddenly encompassed by a purple sphere. The vortexes exploded upon contact with the sphere but he was otherwise unharmed. By the time the dust and smoke cleared the vehicle could be seen speeding away in the moonlight.

Walter turned to see that the one who was responsible for their defense was a strict looking woman with blonde hair holding...a riding crop?

"Wow, you're a huntress!" The silver eyed girl was apparently unperturbed of almost being exploded by arcane forces, "Can I have your autograph?!"

* * *

~ Unknown Location ~

"So...I guess vigilantism is still a crime here." Walter mused as he leaned to the side.

"Hey! Can you not smoke in here?" The silver eyed teen coughed, "Or anywhere for that matter! Its bad for your health. And you'll get in trouble with that Huntress!"

"Sorry, I'm almost done." Walter shifted the cigarette to the other side of his mouth.

"Unbelievable!" Before Walter could react the cigarette was snatched from his mouth by a near invisible force.

When he looked what little remained of the item was suspended in the air in front of the blonde woman with glasses.

"What do your parents teach you at home?!" She scolded him in a voice that was very suitable for a teacher, "Or do stay out late specifically to indulge in this?!"

The cigarette was crushed in mid-air and flew unerringly into a trash bin.

"It was him! All him! I don't smoke at all!" The girl at the end of the table said as she frantically waved her hands as if she was trying to manually direct air traffic.

"We're well aware of who was smoking in the room," A more gentle voice said, "We are also aware of what you two did tonight."

As he stepped into the light the person could now be clearly seen. On one hand he held a steaming cup of coffee while another held a cane...with a trigger. The blonde woman held up her scroll and showed a replay of the events in front of the shop. Apparently, the store owner wasn't lying when he said he had the whole thing on tape.

Walter internally sighed when he saw the video end with him climbing up the roof. It would have made his effort to not be noticed in vain if they saw what he did.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked as leaned forward.

"You're professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon," The red clad girl gulped.

"Its good to see you know my name...Ruby Rose," Professor Ozpin slowly slid a plate of cookies between the two.

The girl, Ruby, looked pensively between the plate and Ozpin before she gave in and started to devour the cookies at an astonishing rate. She over two-thirds done before she remembered the boy beside her and shyly offered two cookies- the only ones left.

"Knock yourself out," Walter waved his hand, "I'm not into cookies."

Seeing this Ozpin made a humming noise as he replayed the video and stopped at a certain scene. Walter, in turn, carefully looked at the three indivuduals while trying to seem disinterested. Earlier on his cigarette was snatched away and then held in place by something that had a faint flash of purple, while this girl had amazing speed. It went it without saying that this Ozpin probably had his own unique ability. He was right to decide tread carefully in this world before anything else.

"And where did you learn to do _this_?" Ozpin showed the scene.

"S-signal Academy..." Ruby was still shy even after she had eaten the plate of cookies.

As the informal interview continued, Walter began to think of ways to get out of this predicament. He also thought of certain ways to explain his abilities if ever the subject would be touched upon. He paid only a small mind to Ruby's words, though he wanted to shake his head at her naivety. Though Ruby was a child, surely her teachers had taught her what to expect out there when fighting the Grimm? But apparently not. Sir Integra was far younger than Ruby when she was nearly assassinated and had to assume the role of the head of the Hellsing organization soon after.

"And you, Mr. Walter C. Dornez," Ozpin finally turned to Walter after Ruby had given her reason for wishing to be a Huntress, "Unlike miss Rose over here, you are not enrolled at Signal Academy...or any academy in Vale for that matter. Yet you were able to skillfully manipulate _these_ to disarm a notorious criminal."

Walter almost smiled at the ironic statemet.

Ozpin next showed Walter's actions when threatened by Roman Torchwick. He paused the video after the tip of Roman's cane was sliced off and zoomed in, revealing a very blurred image of Walter's wire.

"Were it not for the light reflecting and the aid of modern technology we could not have seen the secret to your marvelous talent." Ozpin said, sounding quite satisfied that he had solved the mystery of the events.

"Woah..." Ruby murmured with awe as she started to understand what had happened.

"I was never trained to be a...Huntsman," Walter shrugged, telling a half-truth, "Before coming to Vale I was trained to be a butler." **

"What?!" Ruby and Glynda were surprised at the answer.

"The managerial kind to be specific," Walter continued, "Though I'm not ashamed to brag that I can make a fearsome pot of tea. My ability with the wire is merely something that came as part of the package."

"Hmm...wire that can be used offensively," Ozpin mused out loud, "A strange thing to incorporate with managerial skills."

" _Strange_ is one of the words that could be used to describe my mentor." Walter deadpanned.

"That aside, did you ever consider that you could be a Huntsman?" Ozpin took a sip of his cup.

"No, I never considered it." Walter replied honestly.

"Why? Huntsmen and Huntresses are so cool! And-" Ruby began to talk excitedly once again.

"Yeah, I heard you a few minutes ago," Walter mentally forced himself to sound like his apparent age when he addressed Ruby.

"Miss Rose," Ozpin cleared his throat, "You have made your views on Huntsmen and Huntresses abundantly clear, in both word and action tonight."

Ruby sat up straight as if she was suddenly a cadet in the military.

"Is this what you truly desire?" Ozpin looked into her silver eyes as he waited for an answer.

"More than anything," Ruby said with deep sincerity.

"So how would you like to be a student at Beacon?" The headmaster asked, "This school year to be specific."

"Yeees!" Ruby squealed with delight.

"And you Mr. Dornez?" Ozpin turned his attention once more to Walter, "Did you ever think that you were destined to be more than someone who managed a household?"

"Nope!" Walter replied in a half-playful voice, "I know more than anyone what I'm capable of."

"Well then, let me just say I disagree," The headmaster took a sip of his coffee, "I see great potential in you as a Huntsman, and while I have no doubt on your tea making skills, I think you would be better off as a Huntsman."

Walter became suddenly became guarded. To his memory, the insane little Major was the only one who had ever praised him and in trying to use him to get a chance to fight Alucard he in turn was used to betray Sir Integra. Towards the supposed end of his life, Walter realized that it was not worth it even if he had somehow managed to kill the ancient vampire.

"While killing _monsters_ sounds like fun I'll still have to decline," Walter said after giving it some thought.

"Its the chance of a lifetime! Its professor Ozpin..." Ruby was rolling her forehead in disbelief at the table now upon hearing the second denial.

"I don't know how much it costs but I simply can't afford it right now," Walter explained, "I'm currently-"

"Staying at the Vale orphanage," Ozpin continued, "You are one of the many children to survive the destruction of Verden village and even suggested a workable plan to try to save the townspeople. Were it not for the sheer number of Grimm it might have worked too."

Ruby suddenly stopped her forehead rolling and suddenly looked guilty for doubting Walter's reasons while Glynda's expression softened slightly upon hearing the information. Internally, however, Walter sneered at their weakness. The incident at Verden, while tragic, appeared to be fairly common and should not have been attempted with half-hearted efforts to begin with.

"However, you will be at the legal age in roughly three months," Ozpin finished, "The orphanage will release you from custody as soon as they can find you some means to settle on your own. We also conveniently have some free slots in our scholarship program for Huntsmen and Huntresses this year."

"You seem quite determined to pluck me out from my intended peaceful life professor," Walter no longer made an effort to conceal the fact that he was on his guard.

"I am free to exert as much effort as I can to extend the invitation, the final decision is up to you," Ozpin smiled, for some reason he felt that Walter truly was different from the other applicants in his own way. For one thing, despite his attempt to act and sound like a brazen teenager his real person appeared to be much more mature.

Walter considered multiple facts on his mind. On one hand he would be monitored, but he could probably skirt around it eventually. On the other, this world was vastly more different than Earth, with the inhabitants possessing powerful traits as unique as the next person. If he was to know where he stood in the food chain Walter supposed a few years or even a lifetime for him would be a fair trade. Knowledge was power after all and with his vampiric biological immortality he could wait it out.

"What's the catch?" He asked, not wanting to sound too eager.

"You will work as a full-time Huntsman for a certain number of years." Ozpin answered honestly, "Obviously not for a lifetime, and you will receive the same salary and benefits of a Huntsman who entered the profession willingly."

"Much like the military," He thought.

"A Huntsman under your command?" Walter raised an eyebrow.

"On occasion," Ozpin smiled, "Huntsmen and Huntresses are directly under the management of the Vale Council."

"So, he has that kind of pull eh?" Walter thought. To his side, Ruby sensed the time for decision was near and was at the edge of her seat.

"Fine, let's see where this goes," Walter said, "I'll give it my best, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"I think you'll do just fine Mr. Dornez," The headmaster of Beacon smiled.

* * *

Author's Note:

*Hellsing OST Iscariot Jazz Funk plays, 0:00-0:35 only though as it gets too epic beyond that.

**Hellsing's battle butler to be precise.

So, this chapter was came out faster than I expected because I managed to finish early with what I was supposed to be doing a day ago.

If you want to better imagine Walter's tone of voice, whenever he complains (especially in his mind) or feels playful its basically him during The Dawn, but his demeanor is everything else at the end of Hellsing Ultimate.

Due to the way Hellsing portrays certain scenes I will be adding this particular symbol: " + " whenever I think its appropriate but it will only be for Walter at the moment. In most of my other works I use " * " so symbolize that I want to say something about it, whether its an author comment or even suggested soundtrack. I find inserting the comment or suggested soundtrack in the story itself disturbs the pacing so tell me if you think the symbol is easily noticed and understood.

For the Hellsing readers out there who are possibly not viewers of RWBY I've cut out some content such as Ruby's admiration of the Huntsmen profession which isn't really important to the story. There isn't any lore involved just to be clear. I'll also be doing this for the rest of the series as it might be a pain to read through something everyone already knows and it saves everyone some time. I do plan to add in key points or information reveals from RWBY canon whenever I feel its appropriate.

On a side note, I really feel like older characters when they're in RWBY crossovers should be teachers of sorts considering their feats but sadly this won't apply to this story when I looked at my notes. Aside from the fact that Walter's appearance has regressed and being utterly unfamiliar with the ways of Remnant and the Grimm, he isn't really teacher material. Other characters, such as those from Bloodborne or the Souls series, do have some experience to impart on others when you look at it.

Finally, I'm still on the fence of giving Walter Aura with an accompanying Semblance. I already have an idea of what his Semblance is and while its absolutely terrifying (your mileage may vary on this) I haven't placed limits on it yet but there will be if ever he does get it. There is a very lengthy build up to acquiring it storywise so readers won't see it until some time. So tell me what you think on this.

See you all in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

A New Beginning

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Hellsing.

"+" Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

Early note: My very first Omake at the bottom.

* * *

~ Three months ago, Unmarked Bullhead ~

Roman shifted within the confines of the Bullhead he was on as pulled the makeshift tourniquet on the stump of his hand. He was lucky enough to fall into the bay of the Bullhead as it rose up from its low altitude flight. The adrenaline had kept him lucid enough to quickly remove his scarf and wrap it around the wound to stem the bleeding. While this happened Roman saw a blur of red pass by him, his _employer_ , as she stepped into the open to engage the two brats who were pursuing him.

As he started to get dizzy from the blood loss, Roman thought he saw his employer block several shots from a weapon before activating her flame based power. He heard an explosion and the notorious thief had hoped to dust that those brats got what they deserved. The Bullhead bay doors closed and the aircraft sped away, likely programed to automatically fly away after a pre-set amount of time. Clinking sounds could be heard as the woman with glowing eyes approached him.

"Oh, no! That looks like it _hurts_ ," Her voice sounded genuinely concerned, "Here, let me see if I can't do something for you."

She knelt down in front of him and took the stump in a loving hold before her hand burst into flames. Roman screamed in pain as the fires blazed on his hand. He wanted to pull away but he was too weak from the blood loss and the woman was stronger than she looked. Strangely enough, the fire didn't travel along the rest of his clothes. It was almost as if she could control the flames with her mind.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity she let go. Roman slumped on the wall, the metal feeling refreshingly cool. He looked at the stump and saw that it was now cauterized. Only his scarf and the edges of his cuffs were burned off.

"Tsk, tsk, how very disappointing Roman," The woman stood up, "At first you were doing so well, but then the amount of Dust you brought in started to drop, then after that the quality, and now after tonight... _nothing_."

"But seeing as you've had a bad run in tonight I'm willing to overlook it," She began to make her way to the cockpit, "As long as you make your next quota triple the amount due tonight..."

* * *

~ Present day, Beacon, Walter ~

Walter stepped out from the ship that transported the many prospective Huntsmen and Huntress candidates. Since he estimated that his breaks would be few and far in the future Walter had used the time during the trip to relax both physically and mentally. The last three months were hectic for him even with his experience and newfound vampiric stamina.

He had crammed as much information as he could during that time by spending hours in the city library. The former butler was also happy to note that the internet also existed in this world and while there was no substitute to reading a book, at least he could continue to read when he got back to the orphanage. Ozpin had given him a device called a Scroll through the mail. It was essentially a computer and communicator in one and had many more functions besides that. Still, Walter was wary of what he accessed through it though. If he could sneak an explosive into the Jackal then it would be child's play for Ozpin to slip a monitoring program into his device.

 _"C'mon Rubes, it won't be so hard...Oh? Is that guy you met here?"_

Finally Walter spent the last month was spent making his own weapon. The weapon he had chosen was relatively simple by this world's standards but he had one very specific use for it, everything else was secondary. While his wires were his preferred armament, Walter realized that it should be used as his trump card or at least when there would be no witnesses to their usage especially considering how public his activities were going to be soon.

 _"...Think of this as a warm up, you already met him anyway..."_

"Hey there!" Walter turned to see a reasonably pretty blonde dragging...Ruby Rose behind her. The young woman in red seemed to using all of her might to try to resist the blonde, even going so far as to let her boots drag on the ground. It apparently, did her no good.

"Um, hello," Walter answered, not quite sure what was happening.

The blonde pushed Ruby in front of her with seemingly no effort at all.

"Uh, hey Walter," Ruby shyly said, "Remember me? I'm the one with the sniper-scyth -"

"Yes, I do remember you," Walter responded, "Miss Ruby Rose."

"And I'm her older sister Yang!" The blonde held out her hand for a handshake.

Walter looked at the pro-offered hand for a second before taking it. When their fingers closed he felt Yang give him what would have been a powerful grip to the average person. Well, two could play at that childish game. He responded by applying a little bit more force with his return grip, all the while keeping up his poker face.

"Nice grip you got there pal," Yang withdrew her hand. Rather than be dissuaded, she seemed to look at him now as a challenge. Walter suddenly felt his plan to counter-intimidate had backfired.

"Yaaaang! Don't scare him off!" Ruby whispered with embarrassment.

"Relax, I didn't mean it like that," Yang replied loudly, "Besides, Wally here can take it. Isn't that right Wally?"

"Don't call me that." Walter deadpanned before beginning to turn.

 _"Yang look at what you did! Didn't you say to-"_

"Oh,what'sthatRubesyourfriendsarehere?! Well,minearecallingmetoo! Latersis!" Yang pushed Ruby towards Walter as she dashed off with a crowd of students.

"Yang!" Ruby sounded like a kitten whose mother had left it.

"What was that about?" Walter asked. It happened so fast that he barely completed his turn before the blonde had left Ruby in his care. Not that he was planning to humor her in any case. It was simply irresponsible of the older sibling.

"Well, my _dearest_ sister Yang thinks I should learn to make friends!" Ruby pouted, "I mean just because I love weapons doesn't mean I can't -eeep!"

Ruby squealed with delight as a male student passed by. Rather than remark on his appearance, however, the young girl's eyes were focused on the sword on his back.

"He's got a flame sword!" Suddenly her eyes shifted to the side, "And that one is a shotgun-pike!"

Ruby was dashing to and fro like a child in a candy store. Suddenly Walter could see why Ruby would have trouble making friends. Not everyone could relate to someone interested in weapons. First there was the stigma that weapons carried, and the fact that the interest was displayed by young child were just some of the reasons for the reaction. Even if they were in a profession that involved the usage of weapons, Walter's earlier encounter with Ruby revealed to him they were just another type of soldier and there were as many reasons for joining as there were soldiers, most of whom turned out to be ordinary people.

Before Walter could slip away, however, Ruby collided with a girl, all dressed in white who had a large amount of luggage trailing her. The resulting impact caused the pile of bags to tumble down, half-burying the Ruby.

"Hey! Watch it you klutz!" The white haired girl yelled in anger.

"This will be pleasant," Walter winced at the pitch of the girl's voice.

"Sorry..." Ruby managed an apology as she tried to extricate herself from underneath the luggage.

"Sorry isn't good enough!" The other girl plucked a bag with a particular marking on it. With swift movements she unlocked it and removed a glass tube with red substance within. Walter briefly wondered why The Doctor did not try weaponize screeching.

"These are filled with Dust! Very. Dangerous!" She shook the tube for emphasis as if her punctuated words were not enough.

Due to the violent motion the cap loosened and some of the Dust floated outwards. Ruby heaved before giving a mighty sneeze that blossomed into an explosion that flung both of the girls back. For the second time that morning the black haired student undesirably ended up with Walter, this time he had to catch her lest he seem callous to the people around him.

"Uwa-what happened?" Ruby asked in a daze.

"You exploded." Walter answered as a matter-of-factly. Ah, he missed this feeling - stating the obvious.

"Unbelievable!" The white haired girl stomped towards them, "This is exactly what I meant!"

"Hey! I said I was sorry!" Ruby tried once again as Walter set her down, however, while she now looked indignant the girl seemed like she couldn't articulate her feelings.

"Pardon me miss?" Walter interjected, placing himself slightly in front of Ruby.

"Schnee. Weiss Schnee." The white haired girl replied proudly.

"No way! Her name means..." Walter fought back a forming smile. What was it and this world that insisted on color-themed names? And her last name...that meant she was one of the Schnee scions, the family that controlled most of the Dust market through their company.

"Miss Schnee," Walter continued + , "While Miss Rose here is definitely at fault for knocking down your luggage..."

Weiss puffed out her chest in victory, expecting a more formal apology while Ruby looked downcast.

"You are entirely at fault for the explosion." Walter finished.

"What?!" Now it was Weiss who looked insulted.

"Indeed, you opened the bag containing the Red Dust container," Walter explained, "And you even shook it with sufficient force to loosen the cap, resulting in the Dust flowing out. Either one of you could have set it off then, but the substance leaving its multi-layered protective containers was definitely your action."

"Oh, and there was no need to do all that to get your point across," Walter finished, "Miss Rose here loves weapons and their components as much as the next enthusiast."

By now a crowd was forming, and unknown to Walter, the teens of Remnant had a habit of recording and posting videos on the fly of happenings they thought worthy of sharing- such as this. On the other hand, Weiss was well aware of this predilection through her tutors on public relations, and deciding to cut her losses, angrily gestured to the servant following her to bring the bags as she stomped off.

"Some first day huh Walter?" Ruby dusted herself, "Thanks for the backup."

"Walter?" When there was no reply she looked around to see Walter walking away rapidly from the scene.

"Finally, I really should stay away from that Ruby," Walter thought.

"Wait up Walter!" In a blur Ruby joined his side using her amazing speed and quickly fell in line with his pace.

"Dear lord, is this some kind of punishment for my acts?" Walter wondered as he eyed Ruby beside him.

"I said- Thanks for the back up Walter!" Ruby said after clearing her throat.

"You're welcome," Walter said, speeding up. Unfortunately Ruby kept pace easily, not even seeming to notice his quickened steps.

"So- uh, that was really something huh?" Ruby said, reverting back to her awkward behavior.

"Indeed." Walter responded, "That should gain you some fame and help you make some friends. Isn't that what your sister wants?"

"More like infamy," Ruby puffed her cheeks, "I'll probably be called crater face or something."

"It does have a ring to it." Walter teased.

"Hey! I thought you were on my side!" Ruby protested before giving a sigh, "I guess this'll be a tough semester after that incident."

"Really? I suppose this would put a dent in your goal to befriend everyone in your class," Walter responded.

"No not everyone!" Ruby answered, "I can't befriend everyone! Just a few people y'know? People who'll get me. Or at least those who will accept me."

She looked down embarrassed after sharing her thoughts, only to receive a poke to her head.

"That was a surprisingly mature answer," Walter smiled approvingly, "There is hope for you yet Ruby Rose."

The welcoming speech went by quickly. In fact, it was barely a speech at all. Headmaster Ozpin looked distracted during the delivery, but the short gist of it was that most the applicants didn't really know what becoming a Huntsman or Huntress would mean and that the time spent in Beacon would not only train them in the skills of the profession but also to reflect and realize their decision of choosing to be the members of such.

After the speech most of the students broke off into groups, more occupied with chatting with the new friends they had made. Few seemed to have taken the Headmaster's words to heart, his distracted tone being misinterpreted as rote recitation for every batch of applicants. However, Walter was one of the few who did ponder on it.

For most of his life Walter wanted to badly to defeat Alucard, not because he was a vampire hunter but because of he wanted to prove himself. Alucard's sheer arrogance and callousness certainly didn't help deter this idea either. The memory of the ancient vampire almost letting a young Walter be choked to death by The Captain and refusing to aid him when asked just _"because its not my specialty"_ was the memory that simmered within him for years. Even though through one of their talks Alucard seemed to have grown to respect Walter over the years it was far too late. The wounds had become scars, and scars don't heal. He had changed sides since World War II and all would be for nought if he suddenly had second thoughts.

Still, in the battle of London Alucard, amidst his gloating, had told Walter that he, and even the major of all people, had to cross a line to get to become what they are. He even hinted that Sir Integra and Seras had accomplished the same thing. Now, Ozpin was saying something along those lines.

Walter surmised this to mean that Sir Integra became who she was when she was confronted with the decision to kill her uncle to survive, while Seras had finally chosen to give up her humanity to defeat the enemy. Alucard? It was anyone's guess but the count probably realized along the way that being nice wasn't going to keep invaders out.

"So...I have to give something up to obtain what I truly want?" Walter thought.

This may or may not be the thing to strive for, but he finally decided that there was no need to rush. Whether it was within this decade or those to come he had time. And he could be patient.

* * *

~ Beacon, the night before initiation ~

Walter spent the evening reading a book on Remnant legends. On the off chance that his true nature would be discovered, he wanted to see how the humans here saw vampires and, more importantly, how knowledgable they were in dealing with creatures of the night. To his delight there appeared to be no analogues to vampires in Remnant, at least in legend. The only bloodsuckers here were part of the animal kingdom, most of which were disturbingly similar to those on Earth. Upon checking his scroll, vampires didn't even appear as a concept in those things called video games. There were some humanoid opponents but most enemies were Grimm.

He planned to continue to read later in some other place when everyone was asleep. It would make people suspicious if he was seen reading in total darkness.

A familiar set of voices suddenly rose in volume and Walter looked up from his book to see the three people he had gotten acquainted with earlier. This time it appeared that Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee were squaring off with Ruby trying to pacify both. Walter smirked as he hid his face in his book as Weiss seemed to get even more angry despite Ruby leaning over to her side of the argument.

Those two were destined to be together he concluded.

* * *

~ Beacon Fountain, Blake ~

Blake heard him long before she saw him approaching, her heritage giving her an advantage in this, and many other areas, of senses. Earlier on a ruckus had erupted in the sleeping area, near where she was seating no less. To her annoyance the source seemed to come from none other than Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the oppressive Schnee Dust Company or SDC. Sensing it would ruin her mood for the entire night, Blake slowly sneaked away to continue reading her book. She found herself a spot on the school fountain and sat down on a bench. The moonlight would be enough for her.

To her surprise, she saw someone approach a several minutes later carrying a book. He looked to be a fellow applicant but other than that he seemed rather unremarkable. He sat down on a bench at a respectful distance from her and opened his book. This act made Blake curious. She was trained to observe body language and this person seemed to have known she was here, despite her not making a sound. Furthermore the moonlight was enough for him to read a book. Could he be...?

She peeked past the statues of the fountain to observe him. He was wearing long pants and an undershirt for what seemed to be his sleeping clothes. After observing his features, Blake was somewhat disappointed to discover he wasn't a Faunus. She saw the title of the book in his hands which was _"Legends of Remnant - A Compilation"_. Suddenly the person looked up and eyed her. After a few seconds he looked down to continue reading. The action reminded Blake of a creature noticing someone observing it and deciding that it wasn't aggressive. Despite being even more curious Blake decided to focus on her book for time being.

* * *

~ Beacon Locker Room, Exam Day ~

"So have you considered a partner already Pyrrha?" Weiss asked.

She had narrowly avoided a sleep deprived night thanks to that dolt Ruby Rose. Nevertheless, she was determined that no amount inconveniences would derail her plans in Beacon and had gotten up early to personally meet a certain person alone in the locker room. That person was Pyrrha Nikos, Five-time Mistral Tournament champion and often hailed as one the combat prodigies of her generation. The reason for seeking out the Mistral champion was not due to curiosity or even fandom but to obtain an alliance for the coming years in Beacon.

Weiss didn't want to be overconfident but her academics were at the top, and the only "difficulty" she had in combat was due to having to focus on her family's hereditary way of fighting. Still she expected this last blemish on her record to be gone once she graduated Beacon. It was, after all, a unique way of fighting and only the elders of her family could teach her the methods properly. Winter had left her some guidelines before her departure for duty and Weiss could always call her older sister anytime.

"No, not yet." Pyrrha replied, "I was actually going to let the chips fall."

"Hmmm..." Weiss nodded, pretending to approve, but was already considering several things.

Pyrrha was a celebrity of sorts and was obviously schooled in ways to give out non-committal answers which meant that she wouldn't object to being partners. Weiss had learned from Beacon graduates that the partnership aspect was to be decided by the Headmaster. As such, she resolved to find a way to end up with Pyrrha at least on her team one way or another. Suddenly Weiss felt a rush of air and turned to see a blur or red, silver and black unfold into a weapon.

Oh no.

"Yeah! Today's the day! No more awkward talking!" Ruby cradled her weapon like it was an infant, "I'm gonna let my baby do the talking!"

"Yeah well, even after today you'll have to talk to people eventually sis." Yang said, "I can't be there for you to deal with you team."

"Yang Xiao Long" Ruby spelled out her sister's name as she poked the latter's chest, "Are you implying you don't want to be my teammate?"

"Excuse me." Someone coughed.

Weiss' shoulders slumped. She was planning on sneaking past the two squabbling sister when another of the thorns on her side appeared. Weiss realized she never got the name of the one who almost embarrassed her in front of the students. Luckily, people were too excited about their first day of Beacon and after checking the social feed on the net, there appeared to be no mention of the incident, not even on those lurid tabloids that made things up. This was basically the only reason she would limit her dislike towards him.

"Yo, Wally!" Yang greeted him cheerfully, "You ready for today?"

"I told you not to call me that," Walter said irritably, "And I will be as soon as I get my weapon."

"Ooooh! Can I see?! Please?! Please?!" Ruby asked, eyes sparkling at the mention of a weapon.

Walter seemed to think it over as he approached his locker, which was behind Weiss and Pyrrha.

"Very well, why not?" Walter, opened a case and pulled out a gun almost as long as his arm.

"Introduce us!" Ruby squealed in anticipation.

"The Barghest, a 17 inch semi-automatic double barreled pistol. It utilizes a synchronized operating system to fire from both barrels. The slide has been built as one main body, with ejection ports on both sides. The hammer has been filed and modified for better handling, and the trigger has likewise been crafted for an easier pull. The clip has, naturally, been modified to accommodate twelve rounds of custom made 13 mm explosive shells. It also comes with this handy holster." [+]

Walter slid the black and silver weapon on a rectangular shaped holster he had somehow managed to equip during the explanation.

"What does it transform into?" Ruby asked, the sparkle still in her eyes.

Walter looked at her for a few seconds in disbelief.

"Nothing," He finally said, "Well, this holster also can also be attached as a stock and holds extra clips of ammunition. That is all."

Walter said all this with neither pride nor shame.

"Oh." Ruby looked disappointed.

"So...I guess you're into the classics huh, Walter?" Yang said trying to lighten the mood.

To be honest Walter really thought he was making something that would be considered a novelty weapon. The design stemmed from the widespread and reliable system used in the Jackal and the Casull back on Earth, only instead of a simple customization Walter combined two pistols into one taking advantage of this world's advanced technologies, especially in miniaturization.

"Actually," Came a voice, "The while the weapon does utilize an admittedly classical design, its quite robust, being present in many contemporary weapons and the caliber of the weapon appears to be sufficient to deal with most types of Grimm."

Pyrrha stepped forward as she spoke revealing Weiss who was trying sneak away during the speech.

"Weiss!" Ruby made a move to try to greet the heiress but immediately backed down when Weiss responded with a chilling glare.

"Ah, someone who understands," Walter said ignoring the little drama, "Thank you. My name is Walter and you are?"

"Pyrrha Nikos." The redhead responded, her eyes seemed to indicate she was expecting something, but was surprised when Walter responded with a "Pleasure to meet you." and began to walk away.

Weiss, however, had enough rudeness around her in such a short amount of time.

"That's it?!" She asked Walter who was about to pass her by, without so much as a glance, "Don't you know who Pyrrha is?"

"No. No I don't." Walter honestly replied.

"She's the five time Mistral Tournament champion!" Weiss said, successfully preventing her frustration from showing.

"Oh, well I'm sorry I don't follow those," Walter said turning to Pyrrha.

"No, thats okay." Pyrrha said, her surprise now evident, "Unless its live, the transmission of replays do get lost among the news of other kingdoms."

"I don't believe this!" Weiss hissed, "Her face is even on Pumpkin Pete's cereal box!"

"I don't eat cereal." Walter bluntly responded.

"That may be a good thing," Pyrrha interjected, trying to shift the focus away from her self, "The cereal is not very good for you."

"Good thing you had those pancakes for breakfast huh sis?," Yang said. Ruby, however, still looked disappointed that Walter's weapon didn't transform.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, Ruby," Walter began, "I made this thing in under a month. You do recall that Headmaster Ozpin all but dragged me here despite my protests."

"Wait, you were personally invited by the Headmaster?" Weiss sounded skeptical.

 _"Under a month...its a newborn..."_ The life in Ruby's eyes suddenly returned.

"Indeed, I think I gave three different reasons for saying no." Walter shrugged.

 _"We can customize it!"_ She began to move around Walter in a circle excitedly.

"Why would you say no? A personal invitation by the Headmaster is - do you know how many people simply apply for the initiation exam and get rejected?" Weiss continued.

 _"We can give it a second form!"_ The little red reaper was now a blur around Walter.

"Well, you see..." Walter explained.

 _"I can see it! I have the blueprints in my mind's eye!"_

"Well, normally I would say the Headmaster would be endangering you," Pyrrha nodded, "But since you were able to deal with a criminal I suppose you could handle yourself in a fight. Although Grimm would be a different matter, adapting shouldn't be too hard as long as you have some basic training."

 _"Unlimited po-"_

"Also, I am not so bullheaded as to stick to using a method that would not work," Walter cupped Ruby's head and lifted her off the ground, her legs still in the motions of running, "If the time comes, I will have to modify or even change my weapon, though I already have another one on me that I did receive training in."

"You mean your wires?" Ruby asked, unfazed at being lifted off the ground.

"Yes," Walter set her down, "They are also the second reason why I went with such a simple design for my weapon. Though I don't know how effective they would be on Grimm."

"Wires?" Everyone else echoed.

"You will see in time." Walter smiled mysteriously. +

"Oh, I see! The handgun choice makes sense now! Silly me." Ruby exclaimed, "SowhenyoudecidetomodifyitIhavethisideawhere-"

Weiss felt one of eyes shut involuntarily. Dust! These people were going to drive her crazy! Or at least develop a tick. It was a relief when the assistant to Professor Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, requested on the speakers to assemble in the Bullhead landing pad as the test was about to begin.

* * *

~ Emerald Forest ~

"We are all well aware that many of you have speculations on your teams for your stay in Beacon," Glynda began when all initiates were confirmed to be present, "So let us put your speculations to rest - we will be assigning you to them."

"You have all trained for this sort of encounter," Ozpin continued after Glynda's revelation, "However, it is important that you be partnered with someone you can work well with."

Upon hearing this Ruby became nervous. Ever since she was a kid, Ruby had trouble getting along with most people.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the rest of your stay in Beacon."

"What?!" A dejected howl escaped Ruby's mouth.

"Once you meet up with your partner, you will proceed North," Ozpin continued, "There you will find a temple where we have placed relics. Obtain only one for yourself and your partner, then make your way back here to the cliffs, we will be monitoring you the whole way but we will not intervene."

The initiates whispered amongst themselves, some modifying pre-made plans while others began to mentally ready themselves.

"Do not hesitate to destroy any Grimm you encounter along your path, or you will die." Ozpin cautioned, "Any questions? Good. Then we will begin."

One by one the students were flung into the air by a springboard whether they were in a ready position or not.

As his turn neared, Walter couldn't be helped but be surprised once more. He had expected a helicopter drop or at least Remnant's analogue - The Bullhead. Walter had seen a lot of bloodshed in his years, enough which would to drive normal people insane but this seemed just to surreal. Shaking his head, Walter flexed his fingers and let his wires extend ever so slightly. Finally it was his turn and he flung at a great velocity into the air.

Once airborne Walter extended his wires flexed them in a manner that would slow his descent into the ground.

Hmm?

It appeared he heading directly for a pack of Beowolves, creatures for Grimm that vaguely resembled pop-culture werewolves. He grew excited at the prospect of fighting, it was in his nature after all.

"Beware world of Remnant, the Angel of Death rides once again!"

* * *

 **Omake**

~ City of Vale, one week before the Beacon Entrance Exam ~

"One week left," Walter thought, "What was that bloody headmaster thinking? Even with my newfound stamina I can only, at best, familiarize myself with Remnant's information for the last few decades."

He shook his head angrily. Well, its not like Ozpin knew he was from another world or anything, still Walter was being run ragged trying to update himself on relevant information. For one thing, he didn't know whether the exam was physical or mental or both. He didn't even know he had to have a firearm made and registered with the school.

To that end he was allowed to use Beacon's facilities under supervision. He had made a weapon in which the construction was familiar to him with some fanciful modification. Nevertheless, the learning experience was profound. Remnant had incredible technology, not just in everyday life but also in weapons development. Rather than a crude outcome, Walter's weapon, thanks to miniaturization technology suddenly looked functional and proper.

Still, all this left him mentally tired and grumpy as a result. He had better find something to eat. _That_ would undoubtedly cheer him up. Also he needed to build up his strength for the exam to come. Walter was jolted out of his thoughts when he bumped into a blonde teenager.

"Ow, that hurt." The blonde shook his head.

"Watch where you're going," Walter growled.

"Sorry, I just arrived in Vale," The blonde dusted himself off, "I'm in a hurry to register as an initiate for the Huntsman academy, Beacon."

"You're an initiate?" Walter raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

This boy didn't look any different from a normal teenager. Even the sword handle poking out of his bag failed to elicit any sense of danger.

"Yup! Name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet and rolls off the tongue." He declared proudly.

"Well, I'm an initiate as well," Walter shrugged and began to walk away without saying goodbye.

"Really? Hey! Wait up!"

For several minutes, despite numerous hints - both obvious and subtle - Jaune continued to follow Walter. Unbidden, the blonde told him about his story about how he had run away from home in order to become hero worthy of his family name.

"Do you know what you are in for?" Walter asked.

"Gotta fight some Grimm," Jaune answered, "How hard can it be? They're just dumb beasts right?"

Suddenly, an idea crept into Walter's mind. +

"Uh, to tell you the truth, I'm kinda lost," Jaune admitted as they started to walk again, "Do you know of a place to stay Walter?"

"Indeed I do," Walter responded, "This way."

"Thanks! I'm new in town and all." Jaune sighed with relief.

A few minutes later, the surroundings got progressively darker, with the street lamps flickering unreliably.

"So Jaune, do your parents know you just arrived in Vale?" Walter asked.

"Nope, they didn't even call me once after I told them over my scroll that I'm going to be a Huntsman!" Jaune said dejectedly, "Once I told them that they even said they wouldn't hold it against me when I came home. Can you believe that?"

"You'd think they would somehow show more concern for you," Walter stopped and turned to him, "After all this world is a dangerous place, you never know what you might run into..." +

After that night Jaune Arc was never seen again.

* * *

Author's note:

Hey! I'm back!

First of all thank you very much for the support of this fic. It was delayed primarily for two reasons, the first being the holidays and research for Walter's firearm. The second reason was really the one that slowed it down and I think was placing too much emphasis on it before I realized I almost made the mistake of substituting his real weapons which is a big [NO]. I guess i got carried away in examining the weapons in RWBY.

I ran through several candidates but decided to set some rules which essentially are:

The weapon must not be made later than 1999 which is the year Hellsing takes place.

The weapon must be based on a real life design and then "Hellsing-nized" (Heavily modified, huge and cool looking)

It must be a weapon whose design Walter is familiar with or at least is simple enough to create.

It was originally planned to be a revolver which utilized a high caliber round but that was quickly dashed when I checked RWBY character weapons. General Ironwood and Emerald already have this sort of weapon and it would make Walter the third such user and not really unique. I spent more than a few hours on this too... The double barrel gun Walter uses here is based on a real life design and can be seen in James Bond: Spectre, Resident Evil and Gotham (Tv series) according to wikipedia.

Please note that this weapon is mostly for show. I will not be abandoning his wires as his primary weapons as they are iconic to him as character. As stated before, he's hiding his true abilities at the moment.

If you're wondering why I chose a weapon that he gave to Alucard, the reason is that Walter would be familiar with the design since he made the Jackal. The second option would have been to make the Hellsing Anti-Midians rifle (first rifle of Seras before the Harkonnen) but the image just wouldn't suit Walter. Secondly, Walter, like The Major, believes Alucard is dead and this gave him enough peace of mind to realize that he did a horrible thing to Sir Integra and thus his final act in the OVA.

Despite the designation implying the weapon was made later than 1999, there's a loophole in my rules as its simply the fusion of a single type of gun.

The second concern for readers is his aura. Readers were concerned that Aura and a Semblance would probably make him overpowered and I know that he's already powerful enough with his wires. However, I decided to give him aura nonetheless, considering he isn't going to fight all out most of the time. Also because the primary antagonists are basically using magic which even the world of RWBY considers fantastical. Also, I can easily balance out his aura usage considering his wires are stated to require some of his stamina.

On a sub-note, he will be using some basic vampiric powers with a twist (or least I hope its not considered too simple). I have in fact recently seen several inspirations in games for some maneuvers not really vampiric but have analogues in the latter area.

Third, other Hellsing characters will not be making an appearance beyond mentioning. Not even the Captain could fit into the plot seeing as he wanted to die in the OVA and we don't even know why he stuck around Millennium in the first place. I will also not be making an OC team. My first story "Forgotten History" (what an ironic title) already proved to me how hard it is to make an original team. In fact consider the Omake above a pseudo-explanation on why Jaune isn't here, and yes, I have seen the latest episode. Still, Jaune's absence won't impact the story considering his team role was revealed this late. Walter's presence here is akin to swapping a shield for another sword so to speak.

Finally, Walter's presence will only begin to be felt toward the end of the Vol. 1 arc. There simply aren't enough events for him to get involed in at the moment. Still, I do have an outline already. Also once again, I will skipping parts that don't really have much bearing on the story unless it can't be helped such being used for transition of scenes or events.

Well, I think that covers most concerns. See you all in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Gathering the Pieces

* * *

I do not own RWBY or Hellsing.

* * *

" + " Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

*, ** etc. are annotations. Located at the bottom of the chapter.

[1] Hellsing OST - Deadzone.

[2] RWBY Vol. 1 OST - Red Like Roses II

* * *

~ Emerald Forest, Pyrrha Nikos ~

Pyrrha Nikos sailed through the air like an arrow as she, like many others, had begun the initiation exam into Beacon. As she started to descend, Pyrrha closed her eyes, not because she was afraid but because what she had said to the Schnee scion was true - she really was going to let fate decide who her partner would be in Beacon for the next four years. In Mistral she would always do as she was told, whether it be some request from a sponsor or her combat instructors but now she was striking out on her own.

Pyrrha contracted herself to both control her descent and guard against the splinters of the many tree branches she crashed through. She rolled smoothly to a stop and aimed Miló in rifle mode around, seeking any targets. Finding none, Pyrrha stored both Miló and Akoúo̱ behind her and proceeded to head north.

As she walked, Pyrrha reflected on the selection method of teams and partners that seemed contradictory to her. It was random in the sense that the very first person they met eye-to-eye was to be their partner, yet they were to be assigned teams later on? She reasoned there must be another mechanic to it that the professors did not reveal. After, all they were under no obligation to reveal everything. Still, it suited her just fine. There was no one from her pervious class in Mistral, and she only knew who Weiss Schnee was because she belonged to a prominent family.

Minutes of walking passed before Pyrrha heard a branch snap. In a flash Miló and Akoúo̱ were out, in the spear and shield configuration.

Out of the bushes a pack of Ursa charged out, hungry for human blood.

She blocked a swipe from a large paw, letting it slide across the shield before letting her spear stab through the small indent. The tip pierced the Grimm's heart and it fell over dead before the attack was completed.

 _Yes, I was born to be a Huntress_.

Pyrrha pressed the trigger and fired Miló, still in spear mode to hit a target from behind. It wasn't meant to be fatal, just enough to buy time to slam the shield into the now staggering Ursa Minor. The spear shifted to sword mode and a quick thrust through the head killed the creature.

 _I might have chosen this life, but certainly not the path to reach it._

This time the Grimm rallied and charged at once this time, two of the smaller ones in front while the larger, older one stayed just a step back.

 _In Mistral they treated me as a celebrity, the "invincible girl"._

Once again, her shield protected her side from an attack that would have broken the shoulder of an ordinary person. At the same time Pyrrha swung her sword in a short, controlled arc to sever the windpipe of the other Ursa then she spun and buried the sword almost to the hilt in the Grimm that was clawing away at the shield.

 _But here, in Beacon there are many talented people that are my equal or better._

The final Ursa stepped in roaring in bloodlust, its claws poised to disembowel her. In response, Pyrrha pirouetted and slammed the shield horizontally on the Grimm's abdomen. Much like a hammer blow, the shield broke any bones the Grimm might have had. Freeing Miló she stepped up and pointed the now transformed gun to the Ursa's head and fired.

 _"Here, in Beacon, I can simply be - Pyrrha Nikos._

* * *

~ Walter ~

As Walter neared the ground he pulled out the Barghest, deciding to start with little fanfare. From his studies he now knew the Grimm were not sentient and possessed animal cunning at best. Also knowing that the Beacon instructors were watching he didn't want to seem like a lunatic by talking to creatures who couldn't understand him.

Right before he landed he fired at the nearest target, large Beowulf and turned the thing's upper body into a fine black mist. Walter snorted in annoyance, there would be no bloody displays when fighting the Grimm. Another one approached from behind, thinking to attack from a blind spot but it was suddenly smashed away with a single wire. [ + ] It tumbled through the air and hit several trees before finally stopping. Though it was dead the moment the wire hit it, its trip through the forest would have ended it life either way as Grimm had no Aura.

Based on his earlier talk with Ozpin, the headmaster had already discovered his method of fighting. However, that didn't mean that he knew the full extent of Walter's abilities. In the end this was beneficial to Walter. He would confirm whatever erroneous idea Ozpin had about his strength during this test and remain off the radar. People felt safe after all, when they didn't know about the real horrors that lurked behind the facade of everyday life.

However, this also meant that if it did come to a real fight, he have to leave no witnesses. In this manner, Walter could also benefit by getting his meals. Not a bad set-up at all.

After the moment passed, Walter turned and fired at the same time. The two explosive bullets that exited the weapon ripped apart the Grimm in a spectacular fashion, his new found strength negating any negative effects of the high recoil by the Barghest.

"How random and clumsy," Walter held up the smoking gun as the last of the empty shells, and Grimm, dropped to the ground, "But I suppose there is some barbaric charm to it."

Everyone in Hellsing had obtained formal training with firearms and Walter was no exception, but his main weapons would always be his ever reliable monofilament wires.

As the bodies began to disintegrate Walter decided it was time for a little reward. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box that contained a single cigar. It had taken him quite a while to find an acceptable brand and he ended up with only one after numerous samplings as he had used up most of his allowance on transportation fees, building materials for the Barghest, school supplies and other things that not even a vampire could do without.

He ran its length along his nose, savoring the unlit smell. Walter then cut the tip and lit the end, taking two quick puffs to keep the light going and to get the taste through.

"Good, very good." Walter murmured approvingly as he headed north.

* * *

~ Ruby Rose ~

Ruby immediately started running the second her boots hit the ground. Aside from reaching the ruins and obtaining a relic there was another concern that caused her to rush.

"Gotta find Yang. Gotta find Yang. Gotta find Yang." She chanted in her head.

Using only a fraction of her Semblance Ruby sped through the forest, her worry increasing by the second. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Yang! Yang!" She called out loudly, no longer caring if the Grimm could hear her.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Ruby panicked as she recalled Ozpin's declaration. Even a kid could count her friends from Signal Academy!

"Okay, calm down," She thought, "Who else do I know in Beacon aside from Yang?"

"Hey! That girl was _the_ Pyrrha Nikos!" Ruby suddenly recalled the redhead, "I saw all her fights! Her weapon covers almost all ranges of combat!"

"Though she seemed kinda stiff," Ruby's excitement began to drop, "She'll probably only hang around me out of obligation..."

"What about...Walter?" She remembered the boy she had continued to meet ever since that night, "He seems nice, he's sort of into weapons. Something about him seems kinda off though..."

"Ooof!" Ruby hit something and staggered backwards.

She opened her eyes to see - Weiss Schnee.

Ruby smiled awkwardly, her facial muscles unable to properly convey the mixture of sadness, surprise and dread that Weiss, of all people, was going to be her partner for the next four years.

For her part, Weiss didn't do anything and simply stared at Ruby as if she were an object and then turned away.

"Wait! Come back!" Ruby called out to her but got no response.

"We're suppose to be a team..." Ruby kicked the ground dejectedly.

"Okay, bee knees - I mean breathe!" Ruby inhaled, it looked like she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.

So she began to follow Weiss.

Minutes passed as she caught up with the white-haired girl, but got not so much as a glance in her direction.

"So, uh- funny how things turned out this way huh?" Ruby tried to break the silence.

"..."

"Um, you know since we're stuck together, why don't we start over?" Ruby offered.

Weiss finally glanced in her direction. Progress!

"I mean, I know I'm pretty awkward at talking with people and all but I'm pretty good in a fight if I say so myself." Ruby jabbed a thumb at herself.

"Who knows? After a while we might even-" Weiss quickly drew her rapier as her eyes flashed dangerously, "-friends?"

The Schnee heiress quickly thrust her rapier past Ruby's head and hit a juvenile Beowolf. It gave out a death howl as it fell over.

The bushes behind Weiss twitched and Ruby's body acted according to her training, pulling out her Sniper-Scythe and aiming down the scope. Out of the bush emerged another Beowolf and no longer bound by the ingrained lesson of waiting to see of the target was human or not vanished. She pulled the trigger and the Grimm was blasted back into the foliage.

"Yeah! Back-to-Ba-"

"We are not going to be friends!" Weiss snapped, cutting off Ruby's cheer, "Now take those Grimm on your side if you're as good as you say you are. I'll handle these ones in front."

"Finally, let's do this baby." Ruby whispered to Crescent Rose as if it was truly alive.

Three Grimm attacked her at once. This was too easy.

The first Beowolf was completely bisected with a diagonal slash. The two halves barely touched the ground before Ruby pressed the trigger and jumped back using the force of the shot. She began to spin the Crescent Rose in scythe mode and crushed the second Grimm with the blunt end of the weapon. Once again pressing the trigger she finished off the Beowolf and was simultaneously propelled upwards leaving the final opponent with nothing to attack. As she reached the apex of her rise, Ruby aimed down the scope and fired two shots, one hitting the staring Grimm's back and the other through its skull.

"Let's see how Weiss is doing," she thought happily. Fighting Grimm always made her feel good as it was the very thing her heroes did in the stories her parents and Yang always told her as a kid.

She looked back to see two disintegrating of Grimm while a third made threatening growls at Weiss. Wait...what is she doing?

Ruby could see Weiss in a ready pose but did nothing as the Grimm charged her.

"Hold on Weiss!" Ruby called out while dashing towards the Grimm.

However, Weiss suddenly moved forwards, her rapier glowing red indicating the usage of Red Dust.

"Woah!" Ruby tried to stop but the use of her Semblance had the drawback of being unable to change directions unless she stopped first.

The collision sent Weiss' fireball onto a large, dead tree instead. The explosion flung bits of burning dry wood in multiple directions causing several embers to light up. Since the fire was not natural, it burned quickly and soon there was a growing ring of fire around the two. Ruby turned around the devastation to see Weiss glaring at her. Uh-oh. She knew what was coming.

"YOU DUNCE!"

* * *

~ Pyrrha Nikos ~

Pyrrha could now hear multiple gunshots echo throughout the forest, indicating that many, if not all the initiates, had already encountered the Grimm. Still, despite her nature of willing to help others Pyrrha avoided approaching the sounds. One of the results of this activity was the pairing of a partner for the duration of their stay in Beacon and perhaps beyond as it was fairly common for partnerships to continue on as Huntsmen and Huntress. Meeting her partner would be destiny in a way and she had no intention of trying to influence the outcome beyond the randomness the Headmaster seemed to intend. Besides, its not like anyone could just apply for Beacon so she could afford to be a little selfish.

After pushing through the bush Pyrrha began to notice a particular scent. She was no Faunus but the smell was distinct enough because it should not be here. Perhaps in the city her brain would have dismissed it as unnecessary information but it was certainly out of place in a forest inhabited by Grimm.

As she cleared some of the foliage she stepped into a clearing to see several Grimm corpses or what was left of them, disintegrating and standing among them was...Walter Dornez. He was also casually smoking a cigar.

"Ah, its you...miss Nikos, correct?" Walter said as their eyes met. He seemed to know she was there from the start.

"And you are Walter." Pyrrha said approaching.

"Well, it looks like you'll be stuck with me for the duration of our stay in Beacon," Walter inhaled, causing the tip to light up, "I am honored to be paired with a champion."

 _Even here, this person who allegedly never knew of me until now..._

"Let us work hard then Walter," Pyrrha said with a smile, barely managing to cover her true emotional state, "However, I believe you should stop smoking that cigar, not only are such things prohibited in Beacon, it might even affect your evaluation never-mind it also being bad for your health."

"Well, we are not in Beacon at the moment." Walter took in another puff.

"What matters is - they're watching us," Pyrrha said in a low voice. Her assumption was if he could detect her approach then he could easily hear her, "And eventually they'll be watching you _even more_ for the next four years in Beacon."

She moved her eyes sideways twice to indicate something. Walter looked at the direction and noticed a small camera on a rotating base, aimed directly at them.

Walter immediately thought of keeping the cigar. Ever since he had become a vampire, he had lost a lot of things he, and every other person, had taken for granted, such as the joy of a simple hot meal though smoking was something that his newfound state continued to allow him to enjoy. While the advantages were great the disadvantages, though most were minor, were numerous and piled up. He was angry about not being able to do one of the few things he could enjoy but his pride was worth more than a cigar. Getting kicked out for something like throwing a tantrum was absolutely mortifying for him.

He took one last, long pull and blew out a cloud away from Pyrrha's direction. Then he sadly extinguished the embers and buried the cigar into the soil to prevent a fire.

"Well, let's get this over with," Walter gestured into the forest, sounding tired.

"Not to worry, there are many other ways to relax," Pyrrha began, "I recommend wood carving."

Walter thought of carving more than one thing up as he gave the camera one last baleful look before following Pyrrha.

* * *

~ ? ~

As the fire raged in the Emerald Forest the creatures within, both natural and Grimm alike, ran for perceived safety. There was one of the Grimm, however, that did not. Smoke had drifted into the cave it had taken as its own, along with the former occupant, and awoke it from its long slumber. Heading out for what seemed like ages it blinked its red eyes, all eight of them, and took in the scene before it. Ignoring the pandemonium around it, the _Thing_ pressed the controlled Ursa's snout into the ground and sniffed until it came across several bootprints. Upon identifying the source it let out a low growl.

Humans.

Having found its purpose it lumbered off towards a marshy area of the forest. It would need something better than this current body.

Bits and pieces of burning branches fell on the body of the possessed Ursa but the _Thing_ controlling it pressed on, it mattered not what befell the vessel. Soon, the ground became more moist and the inferno was left behind, unable to spread any further. The possessed Ursa Major's breath became ragged, no longer able to endure the trip as well as being fed upon by the creature on it, even with the Ursa's unnatural physiology. It stopped at the mouth of another cave and took a sniff. The scent the _Thing_ was looking for was definitely inside and it made the Ursa emit a bloodcurdling death cry before letting the body expire.

The tentacles detached itself from the now-dead Ursa's back and the Grimm positioned itself at the top of the cave entrance, offering it a great view of the immediate area as it waited for its new weapons. It didn't have to wait long.

From out of the cave slid out four King Taijitus. The cave was their dwelling, and the Ursa's death wail had disturbed them. As they circled around the dead Ursa, the _Thing_ waited for an opportune moment before finally launching itself at the largest King Taijitu. It landed in the middle of the body and immediately began to dig its tentacles in. The King Taijitu hissed in surprise and anger but it was too late, its body was no longer its own. The now possessed King Taijitu moved towards the surprised others and more tentacles shot out as it neared them. Soon, the tentacles were embedded into all four but it did not end there.

The bodies slowly began to merge into one, the heads writhing in the black mist, until a new creature emerged. _Eight_ heads now looked about, as if reorienting themselves of their present location, and snapped towards the others that got too close. A few minutes passed as the _Thing_ acclimated to its new body, controlling the heads every which way until it was comfortable. Finally, a giant body, the size of a bus, slithered towards the sounds of gunfire...*

* * *

~ Forest ~

"Well, thats that." Walter drawled. He fired another shot into the corpse of the dissolving Grimm just to be sure. Who knew if these beasts had some kind of knee-jerk behavior when dead? Not that it could harm him of course, but good habits were always an investment.

"Excellent," Pyrrha nodded, "Perhaps we can now move on."

"There sure were a lot of them," Walter stated, "They were also heading in one direction. Either they are after something or running away from it."

"Probably the first," Pyrrha replied, "Grimm, are known to drop all pretense of territoriality once they sense a fight with people. Hmmm? Walter, your cheek..."

"Oh?" Walter tried to look down but saw nothing, he smelled blood though. Probably just a cut. It would heal quickly. Artificial vampires also had regeneration but in a limited capacity.

"It will heal soon." Walter shrugged, he quickly covered it with his hand, to prevent any suspicion brought on his rapid healing.

"Why did you not activate your Aura during the fight?" Pyrrha questioned, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Because I haven't had my Aura unlocked," Walter said as-a-matter-of-factly, "I recall mentioning in the locker room that Ozpin was _very_ insistent that I enroll in his school. Three months is hardly enough time to prepare for...well everything not related to my original job. Its a whole _other world_ for me."

"Do you want me to unlock it?" Pyrrha offered, misunderstanding his reason for covering his wound as embarrassment.

Walter hesitated. His earlier doubt about having a soul rose up. That and he didn't know what would happen with this unlocking business. It was certainly not occult, and he was no longer human to begin with.

A few seconds had passed, before he decided that he might as well spontaneously combust with as few people around as possible. It was less embarrassing that way.

"Please do," He nodded, "I am in your care."

 _"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality,"_ Pyrrha placed her fingers on Walter's forehead as she began to glow, _"Through this, we become a paragon of of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release thy soul, and by thy shoulder protect thee..."_

Pyrrha ended the ritual exhausted. This was to be expected as she had used up a lot of her Aura, but a new feeling rose up in her. Stifling, almost choking. She looked up and she could almost sense a malignant pressure in front of her, where Walter was supposed to be. She found herself on her back, uncontrollably screaming and struggling to get away from-

"Are you all right, Miss Nikos?" Walter asked in that lay drawl that seemed to be his manner of speech [ + ], "If this is indeed what this Aura unlocking business results in, I now understand why so little people actually do so..."

Pyrrha blinked and suddenly found the pressure gone. It also appeared that her earlier panic was also no more. It was almost like she was having a dream - or a nightmare.

"Now then, if you can walk I'll escort you through the forest," Walter offered her his hand, "As a quid pro quo for unlocking my Aura."

Pyrrha flinched as she took his hand, expecting to feel the dark sensation once again but nothing happened. She lagged slightly behind Walter during their trek as she sought to make sense of what just happened because now she was sure it was not a hallucination.

* * *

~ Emerald Forest Ruins ~

"How could this happen? Why is this happening?!" Weiss thought furiously.

They had arrived in the area where the relics were located and successfully retrieved one but...that was the only thing that had gone right so far.

Everything up until that point was a disaster. They had started a forest fire, she had actually let Ruby talk her into some crazy scheme of riding a giant Nevermore (She hated birds) and then for all her alleged enthusiasm, Ruby had decided to leave her on the creature with no warning other than "jump!". Not wanting to be carried off and eaten Weiss had also let go and would have gotten injured from the fall were it not for a barely cast glyph. And now...

Now they were surrounded on all sides by several Grimm with more undoubtedly on the way. Could it get any worse?

"Ren! I wanna ride a Beowolf Alpha next!" The orange haired girl, Nora, yelled excitedly.

"Not now Nora, perhaps another time," Her partner, Ren, said, trying to placate her.

The Grimm, now confident that more of their kind arrived now began to advance slowly towards the group of trainees, growling and snarling as they approached, the instinctive animal part of their minds aware of the concept of intimidation.

Weiss didn't let the sheer number of unlucky events get to her though as plans flashed through her mind. Finally she made up her mind to charge through the horde and make her way back to the cliff side. Staying would be suicidal as more Grimm would undoubtedly be drawn to the commotion. Argh! That was right! She had to make sure that dunce, Ruby, survived as well! Maybe Ruby's speed Semblance could be used in conjunction with her glyphs to-

A crushing sensation suddenly permeated the air, halting Weiss' train of thought. The Grimm sensed it as well and turned in unison to the left, at where they detected the source. Looking in the same direction, Weiss noticed the other initiates also sensed it and had glanced as well. This was their chance!

Before she could utter out a single word, the trees in the direction they were looking at suddenly _exploded_ outwards flinging trees, clumps of earth and any Grimm unfortunate enough to close by into the air.

"Ah, the ruins at last," Came a lazy voice, "Your sense of direction is impeccable miss Nikos." [1]

"Walter, if we're going to be partners for the next four years I think calling me by my first name would be better for everyone." Answered a voice.

As the dust cleared the initiates saw Walter and Pyrrha walking towards them casually.

"It looks like they started without us," Walter said, "Oh well, fashionably late and all that."

As the last word left his mouth he drew The Barghest and started shooting. Pyrrha equipped Miló and Akoúo̱ and quickly moved to engage the Grimm that Walter had not targeted.

From the slight rise that they occupied Weiss was able to get a view of how these two individuals fought. Pyrrha Nikos, true to her reputation, was sight to behold. She weaved in between multiple enemies at once, her shield a barrier no attack could pierce and her multi-form weapon a red and bronze hypnotic blur, each attack ending with a Grimm slain as she moved on to the next opponent. Unstoppable would be one word to describe her.

Walter on the other hand was none of this. Despite his neat dressing he fought like a street hoodlum, aiming at large clusters of Grimm and firing indiscriminately, relying on the sheer number of bullets his weapon could expend. He acted like there were a million bullets in his weapon!** The only thing Weiss could observe was that anytime a Grimm would manage to get close it would suddenly be flung away, like someone or something hit it with a giant hammer. However, of all the people present only Ruby realized that it was Walter's wire in action.

"Hey! Leave some for us!" Yang called out, "C'mon Blakey!"

Blake, her partner rolled her eyes before sprinting after the blonde.

"Make way!" Nora yelled firing her grenade launcher while running into the melee.

Soon everyone was joining in, except Weiss. Ruby herself had started to jog towards the fight before she turned as if remembering Weiss.

"C'mon Weiss!" Ruby offered a sincere smile, "There's enough for everyone!"

Soon the Grimm were all defeated, and the young initiates were finally able to rest for a few moments.

"Are those the ruins?" Walter asked himself, gazing at the stone slabs.

"You go on and pick a relic...Pyrrha," Walter hesitated in using someone's first name, another one of his habits getting in the way, "I'll stay here and catch my breath."

"Well, this is the only one left," Pyrrha reported as she returned, holding a white rook in her hand.

"A chess piece? Really?" Walter wondered. Ozpin was either a master at mind games or he had a terrible and very lethal sense of humor.

"Some relic this turned out to be." He returned the item to Pyrrha for safekeeping.

Suddenly a crackling sound could be heard, after a moment of focusing, the group realized it was the sound trees made when they were toppled and/or crushed. They looked around until they saw the direction it was coming from. Trees could be seen toppling like bowling pins as something _big_ was moving towards their location.

"I think its time to go." Ren spoke. Despite his quiet voice it seemed to carry weight in the present situation.

"Why don't you just do that thing you did a while back?" Yang asked referring to Walter's explosive entrance, "Who did that anyway? Pyrrha or Walter?"

"Actually I'm still feeling rather drained..." Walter said.

"You'll get used to managing your Aura Walter," Pyrrha reassured him, "But I think that attack of yours would still drain a large amount of your stamina. I agree that its best we retreat."

The group turned and ran to the direction of the cliff-face where Ozpin and Glynda were waiting.

Walter grinned internally as he slowed his pace to stay with the group. It looks like hiding his abilities was going rather smoothly. These children seemed to literally accept almost anything said about his abilities as long as Walter reasoned out they were due to Aura. If anything, the activation of his Aura made him feel even more powerful!

They ran for several minutes at a pace that would have put an olympic athlete from Earth to shame. Finally they reached a cliff that looked like it was connected to the other side by another set of ruins.

"Everyone across!" Weiss ordered, even if the command was superfluous she had to appear to be able to command a team. The fact that Professor Ozpin and an undetermined number of teachers were watching had never left her mind.

Before anyone could cross a large tree was flung in front of the group, slamming onto the ruins of the bridge. Despite being made of stone it was old, and chunks fell off into the foggy abyss. Still, this was nothing none of the trainees could handle. However, the objective of whatever threw the tree was accomplished as it delayed the escape of its prey.

The last trees dividing the forest and cliff crumpled under something _massive_. First a King Taijitu head poked out of the treeline, scanning the clearing the bone plates on its body far more ornate that the even the usual old Grimm. Then the other head. Then another. Then another until a total of _eight_ King Taijitu heads were staring at the group.

The initiates froze in surprise. They had never encountered such a Grimm before. It didn't matter if it was an eight headed Ursa. This was simply too bizarre even for a Grimm. It crushed any remaining trees before it and moved towards them, the heads hissing and snapping at the group.

"Everyone across, now!" Pyrrha was the first to recover. Eight headed Grimm or not, a tree was hardly an obstacle.

Just as they began to make their way to the stone bridge a sharp keen caused them to skip to a halt. It was fortunate as well as a hail of sharpened feathers rained down on the spot they would ran into. The eight initiates looked up to see a very large Nevermore circling over them and well out of reach of their weapons.

"Oh look Ruby!, it looks like your _friend_ didn't take too kindly to being _left behind_!" Weiss snarked.

"Not now guys!" Yang growled, for both reasons of protecting Ruby's self-esteem and getting everyone to focus.

"We're trapped either way," Blake stated the obvious, "Anyone got a plan?"

If they moved at either side back into the forest, using the trees as cover against the Nevermore, the forest was shown to do little to slow down a chase by the freak Taijitu. On the other hand, if they stayed to fight the eight headed Taijitu they'd be attacked from above and behind by the Nevermore.

"We have to separate into teams to take down both threats and simultaneously cover each other's backs." Ruby called out after a moment of the group dodging or blocking another volley of feathers.

"Its ability to fly is its biggest strength," Walter said, "We'll have to somehow ground it and prevent the use of those feathers. As to that Grimm over there, the rest will stay to engage it and perhaps look for a way to fight it or distract it until an opportunity to escape presents itself."

"I've a plan!" Ruby told everyone her plan. Weiss and Pyrrha were integral to it once they volunteered their abilities and Blake offered the assistance of her weapon's ability as well.

"Let's go!" [2]

The group stopped running and turned to face the Taijitu chasing them. The multiple heads snapped alternatively, with the half waiting for an opportunity to attack. However, while the numerous heads would easily overwhelm all but the most experienced and powerful Huntsman, a single head was manageable by initiates present rendering the tactic employed by the Grimm useless.

There was one problem with the plan though.

While Ruby made a general outline of actions, she had neglected to assign roles by name for reasons of not really knowing everyone in the group and because they were in a hurry. Still, the team moved well enough, each familiar enough with their strengths and weaknesses to know what part of the plan to attempt.

When one of them blocked an attack, the Taijitu head waiting to strike was intercepted by another of the group, until they were each close enough. Then to the Grimm's surprise, the group of people jumped on its body, limiting its ability to attack despite their flexible necks. Another surprise followed when they began to scale the long serpentine heads and ended up on top. Now extremely agitated, the Grimm thrashed its heads around, try to throw off the initiates on them. Overhead the Nevermore circled waiting for an opening.

"Now!" Pyrrha called out.

Pyrrha braced her shield allowing Ruby to use it as a platform to initiate a weapon assisted jump. While in the air she turned and fired Crescent Rose in the mass of heads, providing cover fire to heads that were now free to attack the others. Weiss steadied herself by planting Myrtenaster on her Taijitu's head and casting a series of glyphs in the shape of stairs as far apart as she could space them.

Wasting no time Yang jumped up on them, using Ember Celica as she landed to prevent any delays in building up a jump.

Blake kept moving as fast as she could as well, not just to maximize time but because she saw who she would have to pull up and was afraid of letting her dislike end with the death of an initiate due to subconscious hesitation. To say she _disliked_ the Schnee family was an understatement, having experienced their callousness first hand. However, Blake had chosen to leave her group and become a Huntress specifically because she was horrified at what the group had done. At what _she_ had done at some point. And Schnee or not, if Blake would let this one die it would be as if she failed the very first step of her new life.

Reaching the maximum range of Gambol Shroud's ribbon she threw it towards Weiss, who caught it by the grip. Once Blake saw Weiss' fingers close around the grip, she pulled as hard as she could, drawing the Schnee heiress towards her, the latter's feet narrowly escaping an opportunistic bite by the now-freed Taijitu head.

By now Ruby and Yang had miraculously landed on top of the Nevermore. Yang pulled her back and punched the back of the creature, causing it to wobble and more importantly, prevent it from speeding up now that there were people on its back. Blake and Weiss now reached its back as well, the latter using a glyph to propel them upwards and Blake using Gambol Shroud to hook onto the creature for the remainder of the distance.

Meanwhile, Ruby moved over to a wing, the one in the direction of the cliffs, and buried Crescent Rose near the tip of the base. The Nevermore screamed and thrashed but Ruby fired again and again, using the high recoil of the weapon to push her forward as she began to _shear_ the entire wing off. Yang and Blake moved to the other side now, the raven haired initiate wrapped her weapon's ribbon around the wing. Once they were facing the direction of the cliff, with help from Yang's absurd strength they suddenly pulled, the violent motion causing the Grimm to change direction towards the cliff face.

With the change of direction achieved, Weiss now ran forward until she reached the giant Nevermore's head. Reversing her grip on the rapier, she jammed it to the hilt into the Grimm's eye and released all the Ice Dust in its compartment. The ice rapidly spread within the creature's head, killing it near instantly, ensuring that it could no longer change the course of its death dive in any way. However, the constant usage of Aura and her glyphs had drained her to the point of fainting and she had front row seat to the rapidly approaching cliff.

Just as Weiss' vision became blurred from fatigue and she considered the very real possibility she might die, a strong arm wrapped around her waist.

"YEEEEEEEEE-!" In a jolly tone Yang grabbed Weiss and jumped off at the optimal time, "-HAAAAAAAAWW!"

The pair landed in a roll, with Yang coming to a stop while standing. The blonde planted Weiss standing straight up after completing the move, though the heiress was still shaky.

Moments later, Ruby and Blake landed as well, looking as fine as the situation warranted.

Seeing all four people who fought the Grimm just fine, Yang's joyous mood escalated to festive levels.

"That was a thing!" She smacked Weiss playfully in the back.

No longer having the strength to stand, Weiss fell flat on her face.

* * *

~ Clearing, Emperor Taijitu ~

Not having the luxury of time of watching the other party's progress, Pyrrha and the other fought for their lives against the multi-headed Grimm.

"One head at a time!" Pyrrha called out.

Ren caught downward thrust of a Taijitu head, channeling his Aura into his palms. As the head stopped moving, Nora swung her hammer down with bone shattering force, severing the head.

"Next!" Pyrrha called out for her target.

She threw her shield in a spin, subtly using her Semblance to increase is spin and thus its cutting power. It sliced through a head and began to circle back towards her as she called it back with her Semblance. Seeing her shield gone, the other heads attacked only for one to be repelled by a single wire by Walter, while the others were kept at bay with shots from the Barghest.

One head veered away from Pyrrha and instead shot towards Walter. To him, the creature was moving laughably slow but he had his plans, specifically how others viewed him, to think of. The moment condensed itself for Walter as he fought down the urge to cut it up with his wires, still hesitant to reveal to others that he could cut through everything, rather than mundane everyday items. As the head approached, he decided it was time to test out this barrier ability Aura granted.

The mouth closed around him, and although he felt some pressure, it more of an inconvenience for him. It looks like the test was successful!

"Walter!" Pyrrha's worried cry snapped him back to reality.

As he was shaken about in the air, Walter spied a masked shaped object in the Grimm's back. Eight eyes looked back up at him, glowing hatefully with unnatural reddish energy. Even for someone new to Remnant like Walter, it was obvious what it was.

"Thanks for the ride old boy," Walter grasped the upper mouth and with his own monstrous strength began to lift it open.

He aimed Barghest down its throat and continuously fired. With his other hand, Walter extended his wires which drilled into the insides of the Grimm, forcing the head backwards toward the controlling, in a manner as believable as he could make it. On his way down, another head was defeated and the Grimm began to thrash around more violently. Reaching the Grimm on the back, Walter released the captured head and grasped the thing.

All eight eyes fixed themselves on Walter who once again, inserted his wires - this time into the controlling Grimm itself. Eight eyes widened, the universal sign of fear.

"Let's see how you like it." Walter smiled. [ + ]

Taking control of the Grimm, which in turn controlled the Taijitu Walter made it move even closer to the cliff, planning to drop the entire thing over the edge. Of the many heads, only two were left now, which were made to thrash about like living flails by Walter. To onlookers, it seemed like he was trying to pull something off the Grimm's back with his bare hands and cries to get off came from the party as they realized it was going to fall off.

 _"Time to earn that Olivier Award,"_ *** Walter made a show of struggling against the thing, although the reality was quite the opposite for both him and the unfortunate Grimm.

With one last heave, it tumbled over the edge. Sure that he was now free from witnesses, Walter's wires burst out the tiny controlling Grimm like some creature from a horror film. He sliced up parts of the body of the Taijitu for good measure and let the corpse plummet into the foggy abyss.

Three heads with worried expressions looked down to see Walter holding on to a small rocky outgrowth.

"Hello there," Walter said casually as if he was talking a stroll.

* * *

~ Beacon Amphitheater ~

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna" Ozpin read out their names on screen, "You have successfully retrieved the White Knights and will be formed into - Team RWBY. Led by...Ruby Rose!"

Weiss looked shocked at the outcome while Yang gave her sister a crushing hug who vainly sought help from Blake.

"And now for the last team. Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Walter C. Dornez, and Nora Valkyrie. You have successfully retrieved the White Rooks. From this day you are - Team PRWN. Led by...Pyrrha Nikos."

"Congratulations." Ozpin stated as cheers resounded in the room.

* * *

Author's note:

* I'm aware of that King Taijitus are fused together and don't have a tail, but I'll be taking some liberties this time considering I don't plan on doing this often or even again to encountered enemies for the foreseeable future. At least for the Grimm. For this chapter I'll be calling it the Emperor Taijitu.

** Hellsing's infinite bullets trope will be present here as well. Its not like RWBY was ever concerned with the number of bullets in the weapons to begin with.

*** Annual award given by the Society of London Theatre.

Okay, most important part first. Just to be clear, if what Walter says isn't true about his abilities he's most likely lying about it. For example, he could have easily lopped off all of the King Taijitu heads in one go when they were on it but he didn't, instead he went for the long route and controlled the creature much like how he did with Luke Valentine which were very precise movements.

If you're wondering why Pyrrha seemed afraid my explanation is that in the brief moment their souls were connected she sensed the darkness within Walter. This is also considering his vampiric nature is basically evil and related to the occult. Also as I have been reading up on vampire abilities most of the stories, including the original one, normally hint that there's something unsettling when being around a vampire unless they don't want you to know that they are one.

Regarding the tree explosion scene where Walter and Pyrrha arrive, aside from Walter not wanting to give the idea that he prefers to slice things, I really didn't have any good ideas as to how they would enter the scene.

Also, someone in a review questioned why Walter revealed his ability to use his wires, aside from the reasons stated here, I watched the show again (probably for the 5th time, and not because of this story, heh) and no one questions the more incredible showcases of abilities like Blake's shadow clone, Nora being able to get charged by electricity, or even Yang getting stronger the more she's hit (and her flaming hair). So in short, the Remnant natives have seen some strange stuff before but Walter never showed to what degree he can control them (but you all know :D ).

To lucky reviewer - Yes, Pyrrha will be designated as team leader for this story simply because its the logical choice. I find it hard that Ozpin, a being who has lived for hundreds (thousands?) of years would make the blunder of appointing Jaune as team leader. Its pretty hard to believe he didn't notice the latter's faked transcripts and while I could understand that he would let Jaune in due to the potential he saw in him, Ozpin has certainly seen a fair number of students die out in the field as Vol. 5 has shown us with Hazel.

If you're wondering about the Grimm fusing the Taijitus together, it has no name and appeared only in the Manga of RWBY, which I discovered only now as I searched the wiki for a big cat-type Grimm. Being terrible at coming up with names, I think you'd all prefer an eight-headed Grimm to a Nirnian (Giant Lion type) or a Panthador (Panther type). You guys have already seen the number of times I had to type "Taijitu" and I have a feeling it won't be as pleasant.

Some other good news is that some later events with the story have been ironed out and made more believable, leaving only one or two events in need of improvement, but since they're far off, I think there's enough time for that as well. What will be unchanged is the ending I have planned for Vol.1, the stone has dropped in the pond and the first ripple is out.

Does the suggested soundtrack at the beginning spoil things for you? Or should I leave it in the Author's note section? Please mention if it did so. I'm always looking for ways to improve my presentation.

Lastly Team PRWN is to be read as Prune (a stretch, I know), which is also another word for Plum. Plum is a violet color which also happens to be Walter's associated color.

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Their Days

* * *

I do not own RWBY or Hellsing.

" + " Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

*, ** etc. are annotations. Located at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

~ Abandoned Warehouse ~

Roman unconsciously rubbed the wrist for the third time that night. He had spent the last couple of months recovering from his ordeal of the foiled robbery. While he was technically alive because his _boss_ had decided to cauterize his wound, that still didn't solve the problem of his missing hand. Well aware that he had an approaching deadline, despite his better judgement he got up after a few days rest and made a few calls to certain people in Vale who either owed him a favor, or whom he had enough dirt on that would be very helpful to the authorities once he had sent an anonymous tip.

The first was a black market dealer. While robotics was a known field of study in all kingdoms, none were as advanced in it as Atlas. Due to how advanced their technology was in robotics, which extended to prosthetics as well, Atlas guarded its technology like a dragon would guard its treasure hoard. In other words, there was a very strict embargo on any Atlesian intellectual property on the other kingdoms. However, despite the potential risks involved, that never stopped enterprising people from trying to make a business out of the items. This person in particular had managed to get a hold of a few prosthetic hands which, naturally, sold for an exorbitant price. Currently, Roman had no choice but to settle for a modest replacement for his missing limb given the current state of things.

The second person he contacted was a doctor who lost his license after crossing the line one too many times and fled to Vale, hoping to start a new life selling his services to the criminal underworld. Roman wouldn't forget the smug look the exiled doctor gave him upon seeing his state, nor the frown when he saw the robotic hand Roman brought along wasn't the most recent model. Well, when his boss and _her_ boss were done with Vale, Roman would have the last laugh.

Roman swallowed the bitter memories as he flexed his new appendage. There was a subtle whir of mechanical parts as the metallic hand opened and closed. At least he could hit a bit harder now if push came to shove.

He stopped examining the his hand when soft padding of footsteps reached his ear. If he was going to pull off the next few heists without interruption it was time to bring in the big guns. The figure of a young woman stepped out of the darkness, twirling a folded umbrella with seemingly no care in the world, her white, pink and chocolate brown outfit easily made her stand out once near a light source.

"Neo, thanks for coming. I'm moving up the schedule because of some complications," Roman said, knowing his long time associate hated small talk.

The girl said nothing but pointed coyly at Roman's new hand.

"Yeah, that sort of complication." Roman rubbed the hand again before deciding to light a cigar. He should have done that minutes ago.

"Like I said, there won't be much subtlety now, I'll be aiming for the big payoffs," Roman said after taking a puff, "Its gonna attract a lot of attention so if ever we're cornered you can do whatever you want but the loot takes priority, okay?"

Neopolitan jumped up and down happily while clapping her hand together. To an observer it would seem as if a parent or relative had decided to give their child the gift they had been asking for in a while. However, Neopolitan was no child and Roman almost felt sorry for that brat who took his hand or any other person with a hero complex once Neo got her hands on them.

* * *

~ Beacon Academy ~

Weiss tossed around a bit, not being able to sleep. Earlier on that day in class she had lost her temper with her partner, Ruby Rose, who not only continued to act like a child but did nothing worthy of her status as the Team Leader. Sure Professor Ports lessons were...difficult to absorb but that didn't give Ruby the license to fool around in class. The final straw was when Ruby kept on yelling "advice" to her during her practice match with a Boarbatusk that the professor had somehow managed to trap.

The Boarbatusk was a fairly common Grimm and could be found in most places of Remnant. That being said, information on it was quite extensive which _included_ its weakness. Ruby's constant yelling made Weiss look like she was a neophyte at this, or at least she thought it did. Dust forbid if anyone had actually gotten the impression that the Schnee heiress was incompetent, spoiled brat that entered Beacon through family connections. Weiss had worked just as hard as anyone to enter Beacon. The school's integrity rested on its reputation of allowing only capable individuals to enroll as trainees as only such were likely to graduate and become Huntsmen and Huntresses as well as the unspoken achievement of surviving the field exercises. It didn't matter if you were the child of the king of the world, if you couldn't make the cut you either wouldn't get in or you would be leave a failure.

Weiss came to Beacon to prove something to her father, but ironically it wasn't the lack of preparedness that got in her way or even active sabotage from her father, but sheer bad luck of being partnered with a person who didn't have the mental maturity of her station. Ruby didn't seem to realize that if she failed to perform up to standards then not only would her grades suffer but so would the rest of the team. One of Beacon's rules was that a team could only graduate together barring unfortunate circumstances during their training.

However, Professor Port's counsel had given her a different insight as well. Perhaps she could try to give Ruby some strict but well meaning encouragement. Viewed in another manner, she would be indirectly leading the team, plus it would serve as practice for her when she would undoubtedly be dealing with far more difficult people down the road of her life.

Finally resolving to do so Weiss peeked over the upper bunk of their hastily constructed double deck beds to find Ruby - gone.

The previous feeling of camaraderie quickly gave way to irritation. Now she was sneaking out?! That. Was. It!

Weiss pulled a shawl around her nightdress and left the room. She didn't have to go far as she heard voices in the common area of the floor. Upon approaching the source of the voices, Weiss recognized them as belonging to Ruby and Walter, a member of Team PRWN who also their next door neighbors. Deciding to see what they up to before crashing their little conversation Weiss moved quietly. Fortunately her slippers had soft soles and the hallway was dimly lit which added to her advantage.

"Hmmm..." Weiss heard Walter pause, halting their conversation.*

"Is something wrong Walter?" Ruby asked.

"Oh its nothing. You were saying?"

"Uh, well, I met with Professor Ozpin after y'know - Weiss left," Ruby continued, seemingly still hesitant to talk about the incident, "And he said I'll have to be the best person I can be because its not just the title but the responsibility that goes with it, but Weiss might have a point as well."

"Professor Ozpin sure likes to keep things half-explained," Walter shook his head, "But yes, I agree with him, and miss Schnee as well."

"Now I'm even more confused," Ruby rolled her eyes, "How can both be right?"

"Its not a matter of being technically right," Walter explained, "You see, there are two types of leaders. Those born into it, and those who are made into leaders. The common factor between these two is that they need to be trained."

"To be sure, it is more efficient to have placed miss Schnee in the position of team leader as she as adequately clear she was trained to do so," Walter continued, "However, _we are in a school_ and a school's purpose is educate its students. Which would be more productive? Teaching someone who already has experience on a particular field? Or grooming those who are deemed to have potential in the role? In this manner, after the supposed four years of studying Beacon would have produced an additional set of people with leadership skills."

"That sounds like a lot of things to take in Walter," Ruby sounded tired just by listening to his explanation.

"It is, but at the very least you got started," Walter confirmed, "And since school has just started it should be enough time for you to get used to the role."

Weiss leaned against the wall, taking into consideration at what she just heard. Alright, so maybe Ruby wasn't as immature as she thought after all, still Weiss felt like she should have a say in some of Ruby more elaborate plans. Ruby's older sister tended to coddle her while Blake was largely indifferent. It was every member's grades after all.

"Hey Walter since you know so much about being a leader why did you think Ozpin didn't choose you?"

Weiss stopped her thoughts and focused on the incoming answer. Learning about those around you was a sound practice after all, especially in a school environment where you didn't have the run of things.

"Well, its probably because the number of managerial skills that coincide with Huntsman and Huntress leadership skills aren't that many," Walter responded, "If I were in your position, I would observe the individual skills of the group and try to come up with the best way to make use of them, on and off the field."

"Hey! This is pretty good stuff!" Weiss could hear the scratching sounds of a pen being used.

"However, I don't think I have the authority to expel unwanted or unruly members so if I were you, I'd make some effort to get to know them," Walter continued, "Whether or not you are shy, but as you can see, this is my limit when it comes to 'leading a group', my background is simply too unrelated from being a Huntsman that Ozpin probably felt it too dangerous an experiment to assign me the position, hence why he chose miss Nikos."

"Well, its getting late I must be off." Weiss quickly cast a speed glyph and moved away as silently as she could back to their room, "By the way, your notes in History are wrong."

"Nooo!"

Once back inside Weiss pretended to be asleep, going so far as to face the wall to avoid any showing any signs of being awake. After hearing Ruby climb up, she waited for a sound that would be considered loud enough to disturb someone. A few minutes later there was an enormous creak and Weiss took this to be her cue.

She peeked over the top bunk to find Ruby still reading, using a small flashlight.

"W-weiss!" Ruby stammered, "I'm sorry to wake you! I was studying and-"

Weiss arched her eyebrow. "Fine. But you get better lighting, you'll damage your eyes. How do you take your coffee?"

"I-uh, don't drink coff- three creams and sugars!" Ruby blurted out the answer when Weiss gave her a stare.

"Here, but don't stay up too late," Weiss said after bringing Ruby her "coffee" a few minutes later. She had also set one of the room's lamps near Ruby's head.

"Thanks Weiss," Ruby smiled at her.

"Since you're trying at the very least, I'm willing to give you a chance at being leader," Weiss said, "This wasn't a very bad idea for a start."

The heiress gave the bunk beds a look around. "I've always wanted bunk beds as a kid. Well...good night."

Before Ruby could murmur a "good night" back, Weiss' head popped into view again.

"Your notes in History is wrong by the way."

* * *

~ Pyrrha Nikos, Team PRWN ~

Pyrrha woke up much like she had for the past few days, with the smell of breakfast in the air well before their classes were due to start. Despite mentally preparing herself for some period of adjustment things were going rather smoothly.

One instance was breakfast. After their first night the team had awoken to the smell of cooking. After entering their dining area, they were greeted with a variety of dishes cooked by none other than Walter himself. Though made of common ingredients they cooked in a manner that belied experience; the bacon was not too crispy, sausages were well done, the potatoes contained only the minimum number etc. All in all, the food was just as delicious as it smelled. The only peculiarity Pyrrha noticed was that she never saw Walter eat with them, opting instead to use the bathroom before everyone else.

The morning meals didn't just fall squarely on her partner's shoulders, however, as Ren offered to cook for them alternatively the next day. Despite her expecting some disagreement Walter seemed fine with the idea but still opted to go ahead of them, eating only lightly compared to the rest.

There was also the fact that Walter had mapped out the team's schedules quickly, posting it in a spot in their common room that was extremely difficult to miss. The schedule even had some space per date, much like a calendar, where they could scribble short reminders. Even Nora, whom Pyrrha expected to at least cause some headaches due to her excitability was reigned in by Ren. Academically, they seemed to be doing rather well with no one complaining about any difficulties, except Nora who had found some subjects to be boring.

It was this relative smoothness of things that allowed Pyrrha to ponder on the one problem they seemed to have or rather one that evaded explanation. Despite seemingly blessed with an ideal team, Pyrrha still felt something was wrong with the way things were. It was only a couple of weeks later as she sat in Professor Goodwitch's class did she discover the problem with her team.

They were not a team.

Or at the very least, they did not have the dynamics of one. Suddenly it all made sense. They worked well enough but simply stayed out of each other's way. Ren had his hands full with Nora while the latter kept trying find something "fun" to do. Pyrrha herself was a bit guilty in this aspect as well. She had taken things in stride as well due to her habits, practice, reading, studying - all of which she had prepared herself to do when she decided to enter Beacon. That and she was used to either working alone or with people that simply would not be around long enough for her to form a meaningful bond with, being the Mistralian Champion and all that. Walter, her partner, was the most grievous offender though. He kept to himself for the most part, neither engaging in mundane banter nor any hijinks that would be expected of a teenager. Whenever Walter did speak, it wasn't for anything that couldn't be answered simply or quickly.

While there might have little to no problems on the surface, if they were to work together for the next four years Team PRWN would have to grow closer to one another.

"I suppose it was a good thing its still early in the semester," Pyrrha concluded as she wrapped up her thoughts on the matter, "I'll have to find some way to shape us as a team. Nothing too big or sudden."

"And that concludes our lecture for today." Glynda Goodwitch stated, "However, we still have a few minutes of time left, and this is the last class. So we will be using that time for your very first practice match of the semester and the year."

Murmurs rose from the class while others had actually complained out loud of having to stay, still not adjusted to Beacon's academic schedule.

"If you had listened earlier in my lectures you would have remembered that not all fights can occur at your choosing," Glynda's voice had a disapproving tone, "Adapting accordingly to a situation not accounted for is a skill you will be using in the field a lot of the time if you become Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"Now, let us see who our first combatants will be," The blonde professor tapped an icon in her scroll that would randomly generate a pair of combatants or teams.

On the large screen above the professor, numerous pictures of students and their corresponding names flashed as the program ran its course.

Finally, the spot to the left slowed down and stopped revealing - Pyrrha to be the first combatant. Knowing how this went, the redhead moved down to the arena ahead of time. Upon seeing her name the lukewarm reception to the exercise became more excited. While many had anticipated a quick victory for the world renowned champion, meaning they would probably get out of class faster, another reason was that it would be the first time many would personally see Pyrrha in action. For some, the Mistralian, was their inspiration to continue with the profession when they graduated from their respective combat academies.

To the right, the image of the person who would undoubtedly go down in this academic batch's history to obtain the very first loss would be decided in a few moments. The name that came to a halt was - Walter C. Dornez.

"Hey, is that even allowed?" Ruby whispered to Yang, "They're partners!"

"While there will be times where I will select combatants based on certain factors, randomly generated matches will also be a common occurrence for this class," Glynda stated, almost as if she heard Ruby, "While you may choose who to work with _before_ a mission, unexpected encounters of friend and foe alike is a very real possibility. Thus, we will endeavor to simulate those situations when we can."

Ruby sank lower in her seat, trying to be inconspicuous as she had imagined the professor had heard her question but only succeeded in drawing attention to herself.

"The time limit will be the remainder of minutes for this class' session," Glynda said to the two students once they arrived at the arena, "In the event that either of your Auras reach the red, you are to cease combat immediately, with or without prompting. Understood?"

Glynda observed the two, who nodded and noted that Walter seemed to be particularly eager though his facial expression didn't make it obvious. His partner, Pyrrha, on the other hand seemed to be at ease and not the least bit bothered by going up against her own partner.

"Begin!"

"Go Walter! And Pyrrha!" Ruby cheered from the side. The rest of team PRWN had also shouted their own encouragements. Because the teams had fought together in the Emerald Forest and were practically next door neighbors, they had beginnings of friendship or at least familiarity with each other.

The two quickly leapt backwards at the signal, each quickly showing their preferred method of fighting. While in mid-leap, Walter quickly drew his firearm and fired a barrage towards Pyrrha. On the other hand, Pyrrha raised her shield to ward off the hail of bullets preferring to see which approach was best to deal with her opponent.

Pyrrha could feel the bullets from the _Barghest_ hit a little bit harder on her shield than what she normally encountered form people, and already she sensed that prolonged defense was not an option. As if verify her observation a pair of bullets, for the _Barghest_ was a dual barreled pistol, missed her by a margin and impacted the ground, creating a fairly large crater.

"A pistol bullet did that?" Pyrrha wondered. While Walter spent most of his time on the team workbench these past few days, it seemed he was focusing on manufacturing different types of bullets rather than a weapon design. It was good thing she had a shield otherwise her Aura would have been drained relatively quickly if ever she got hit.

Deciding she'd seen enough, Pyrrha stopped dodging and blocking the bullets and retaliated. Miló shifted into rifle-mode and fired. Being a semi-automatic weapon it fired as fast as the user could pull the trigger. Seven bullets streaked towards Walter who made an upward gesture with his free hand. There was a flash and several bullets impacted on the floor, well away from their intended target.

"What was-!" Pyrrha suddenly recalled that Walter could control a single wire with unbelievable flexibility. It appeared he could use it to deflect the bullets as well. Impressive. There was more to her partner than she first thought, though then again, they were just fighting Grimm in the Emerald Forest.

"Then, I'll have to get closer," She surmised. Pyrrha ejected Miló's en bloc clip, with her shield still clipped to her forearm, her hand moved ever so slightly towards her front pocket and removed a new clip. There was ringing sound as the empty clip ejected outwards and the new one quickly took its place.

The action was practiced and smooth, lasting for no more than two seconds, and yet during this time the barrage of bullets from Walter never stopped.

 _"What kind of magazine was he using?!"_

Still, with Miló reloaded, Pyrrha now moved to attack, her defensive dodging now becoming a charge towards her opponent firing her own retaliatory shots as she weaved through the barrage. Walter now moved from his spot, trying to gain some distance between them, all the while still firing his weapon non-stop. Bullets whizzed by the two as they moved around the arena like a bee and a wasp, each trying to gain a decisive positional advantage. However, Pyrrha managed to close the distance and swung Miló in a diagonal slash, now in sword form.

Walter leaned to the right dodging the attack by a healthy margin, but sword strikes could easily be chained and Pyrrha swung with strikes that she had trained with until it was second nature for her to decide that optimum type of strike before it was executed. Walter dodged most but he could only do so for very long before he was forced to block using the underside of his weapon. This too was to Pyrrha's advantage as her shield could be used more than just for defense. Now that her shield arm was free, and Walter's weapon bound to her sword, Pyrrha withdrew Akoúo̱ and slammed it forward with crushing force.

To her surprise, the shield was stopped by a forward kick by Walter [ + ], the sole of his shoe flat against the surface of Akoúo̱. With a sudden burst of movement, he forced Miló down which ended with his gun aimed at Pyrrha's face, through the small gap she would normally use to poke Miló through. Tilting the shield up as he fired, the bullets impacted the tip but just barely as sparks flew, temporarily blinding both combatants.

Pyrrha leapt back and saw the Walter's silhouette through the flash induced haze and took a gamble. She threw her shield, adding a rotation to her arm to cause the shield to spin adding to its accuracy and hitting power. Normally, this would be ill advised as she would be throwing away her protection but Walter was close enough that it could go either way.

Luckily it seemed to hit her partner on the abdomen but just as this happened Walter made an elaborate flicking motion with his other arm, the one Pyrrha noted that he controlled his wire with, and she felt something binding her leg. The ceiling quickly filled her view and before she knew what was happening, was slammed down with brutal force, enough to drain some of her Aura.

Then the bell rang.

"Time's up!" Glynda called out, "The match, for now, is a draw. Good work you two. I will see you all next meeting and that essay I assigned earlier."

Pyrrha stood up to look at the monitor to see both of their Aura levels down, but only by a negligible amount. In fact Walter's had already begun to re-fill a few seconds before hers did. Looking over, her partner had also picked himself up and was dusting himself.

"Well, that was educational," He said in his lazy tone as they left the room.

* * *

~ Dining Hall, Team RWBY, Team PRWN, Later that week ~

"That's- some dream you had there Nora," Yang said.

"She's been having it for quite a while," Ren said, omitting his speculation that if Nora had never told anyone about it, the dream would have occurred until such that she did.

During lunch, Nora had been regaling both teams with her stories, which actually turned out to be recurring dreams, with as much gusto as she ate her meals. Out of all the members, Yang seemed to be the most resistant to the madness.

Walter in the meantime seemed to be in a fairly good mood, though he left most of his soup, the only type of food that came close (but still impossible) for him to consume. The reason for this was his plan for blending in Remnant was going rather smoothly. Last week he had just devised a method of camouflage in these "practice bouts" with other students. Recalling Pyrrha's question as to why he didn't activate his Aura in the forest had given him an idea.

If he would time the shutdown of his Aura minutely he might be able to fool those damnable sensors then he would raise it back up again. It worked, though it added an unnecessary complication to his fights. Still, they were practice bouts with rules to them. His second method was to perform these outrageous gestures before attacking with his wire, which would give even a neophyte a hint of an impending attack. Walter had seen some of the children at the orphanage play with "video games" where the characters would do such things. While it was necessary for opponents in the game to telegraph their attack, otherwise the players would have a hard time, such actions would spell the doom of warriors in battle. Still, his wires coupled with the weapon's unpredictability, would do well enough. He had stuck to his plan of using only one wire since it was obvious Goodwitch or even Ozpin would be watching the fights. He hadn't planned to throw the match with Pyrrha either. He had his pride but Walter was willing to settle for a draw, especially since his parter was a celebrity of sorts.

"Ow!" Walter's thoughts were interrupted when a cry of pain echoed in the dining hall.

All eyes turned to see a Faunus girl's ears, her rabbit ears, being pulled by a well built orange haired student. The person in question was laughing along with what appeared to be the rest of his team, none of whom even seemed the least bit concerned about the Faunus girl's pain.

"Cardin Winchester," Pyrrha's eyes narrowed with disapproval.

"Please stop," The Faunus girl pleaded when Cardin gave another tug at her ears.

"Told ya they were real!" Cardin laughed, "What a freak! Four sets of ears?"

"I can't believe they would let a bigot into this school," Blake growled, her eyes narrowed with anger.

"I can think of another word that starts with a B," Yang agreed with her partner.

The rest of the members showed some sign of agreeing, even Weiss wrinkled her nose as she disapproved of the act of bullying as well, Faunus or not. The only exception was Walter who merely glanced at the scene unfolding behind him before turning his back casually.

"Not bad enough for you Walter?" Blake asked in a challenging tone, her old activist tendencies reviving themselves.

"Sad as it may be, its not our business," Walter shrugged, "Besides, I'm sure she can handle herself."

The Faunus girl ran past them, her face buried in her hands in shame as walked swiftly out of the dining hall.

"Indifference like that is what allows that kind of mistreatment to continue," Blake said, "Those guys were clearly bullying her simply for being a Faunus."

"I could see that," Walter replied, "However, we are in a school where literally everyone knows how to fight. I expected her to do something about the situation one way or another."

"Sometimes fighting back is only going to make it worse Walter," Yang said, uncharacteristically serious, "I know their type. If you fight back you'll only give them something to focus on. Same thing if you report it. They might get punished but its a slap on the wrist compared to what they've done and will do as payback."

"A solid enough blow should be enough of a deterrent in the future," Walter answered, "but since it wouldn't work perhaps a public shaming should be enough hmm? Some choice words to damage their public image would probably work. After all, everyone saw what happened. And yet no one jumped to her rescue, hence why I thought she would handle it herself."

Ruby listened to the back and forth between the three members, all with growing sadness. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses it was their job to help people beyond than just Grimm slaying. She looked over to the laughing team and saw that the Faunus girl had dropped her food tray. Then she looked at the door where the girl had exited just a minute ago. Suddenly she had an idea.

The arguments between the members all took some sort of stance that were on opposite ends. Walter believed that the girl should defend herself, especially when no one came to help but the others opted to stay in place and simply dissociate themselves from Team CRDL. However, her idea, which wasn't as extreme as her other ones came into being after hearing her friends argue about how to go about the situation.

"Follow the rose petals guys," She said loudly.

Before anyone could complete the word "what?" Ruby had sped off to grab another food tray then exited the dining hall. Members of both teams followed the petals, confused at the youngest member's behavior. Finally the trail led to an open area where students could rest on benches that were surrounded by trees. The trail of rose petals ended with Ruby holding the tray in front of the girl who had stopped crying when she looked up.

"Hey, uh, you dropped your tray back at the dining hall," Ruby began with her usual awkward start, "So we got you a new one."

The Faunus looked behind her to see the rest of Team RWBY and Team PRWN catch up to them.

"My name's Ruby," Ruby flashed the friendliest smile, "What's yours?"

"Velvet."

* * *

Author's note:

* Yes, Walter did notice Weiss' presence but decided to not to do anything about it, since the conversation wasn't of a sensitive nature.

Sooo...this chapter is not only late but one that I'm not personally happy of in terms of quality, I'm not even happy with the title. One reason was that I was looking for ways to give some of the characters additional depth to their person. We all know what they're like but a little bit of extra detail would be better, kind of like how light novels will almost always contain more info than the anime or manga adaptation. I even tried to spice the chapter up with a practice match. The second reason is that March has been a very rough month for me in more ways than one, and I suppose the only reason this chapter was released at this time is because there was a rough draft already in my head.

The only bit of good news I can offer is that the next chapter is the one that I really want to do because the pace picks up and the changes of Walter's presence will finally begin to show their effects. As such I'm already working on it now as you're reading this.

Time to answer some reviewer questions then.

While I am aware that Walter smokes the cheap kind of cigarettes but that doesn't mean he has to do so, especially now that he's free from any obligations. Being around Sir Integra would, at the very least, give him some exposure as to what a good cigar would be. I did mention in chapter 2 that he spent some time looking for a brand of cigar that would suit his personal tastes.

Also, I'm pretty happy that most people don't ask about why he does certain things now in order to hide his true strength. Sometimes I feel like I'm overdoing it whenever I explain it in the story but this is an attempt to improve my way of getting the idea across based on the responses I got from my other story (Two Sides of a Coin). A more than a few readers kept getting confused despite presumably having read chapter 1 therein which follows the writing rule of establishing the setting early on. I think I must have re-read that chapter four or five time before I realized they either skipped it or used a translator. So for this particular story I will try to tone down the "he's hiding his real capabilities" in the following chapters since it might get annoying.

I named the team initially PLWN because I didn't know that Ren was being addressed with his last name and its much closer to "Plum" if you apply a fanciful reading. Being constantly referred that way, I guess I kinda got used to it. I mean Ren basically fades into the background and he and Nora didn't really get any focus until Vol. 4. I think I will change the team designation with a quick chapter update before this.

As to the last segment, I'm not trying to simplify the situation of bullying. Rather, my personal rule when writing known characters, such as Walter, is to write within the plausible boundaries of their personalities. He basically responds to strength, and as such what Walter suggests to Blake is how he would most likely deal with the situation. As stated above, he probably can't understand why its even happening in the school in the first place.

Also regarding the ending of this chapter, the "Jaundice" arc will not take place considering the Jaune isn't present and there is no reason for Cardin to antagonize any member of Team RWBY or PRWN. Its a shame but if "Jaundice" did occur then there would have been a chance for Walter to showcase a new use of his wires in the forest. However, the premise would probably give a wrong implication to readers, plus there is no official information to support the scenario either. Once again, a shame but I think the ability can be used another arc in this story.

Did some quick editing on this as I accidentally uploaded before the line breaks etc.

Thanks to all for showing their support of this story! Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Ripples in the water

* * *

I do not own RWBY or Hellsing.

" + " Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

*, ** etc. are annotations. Located at the bottom of the chapter.

[1] Hellsing OST - Deadzone

[2 RWBY OST vol. 1 - Wings

* * *

~ Beacon, Dormitory ~

Ruby opened her eyes to see an empty bunk bed across her and Friday afternoon's events rushed back to the forefront of her consciousness. What seemed to be a fairly enjoyable walk around town turned into a catastrophe.

Weiss wanted to go into town which made even Ruby suspicious. Despite not knowing her partner for very long, the young Huntress-in-training felt like she had a grasp of what Weiss was like. It turns out that the heiress had wanted to scout out the competition for the upcoming Vytal festival. However, it didn't seem like a such idea at the time since Ruby found combat to be a much simpler affair than getting to know people. In addition to this, she might get some ideas for upgrades to her baby, Crescent Rose, since the contestants came from the every major Academy in the different kingdoms. Despite no one jinxing the trip by asking the feared "What could go wrong?" question, _it did_.

It had started when they encountered a burglarized Dust shop and Weiss made it _abundantly_ clear about what she thought about the White Fang, which was comprised entirely of Faunus, as they heard the investigating officers speculate as to who was responsible. This seemed to agitate Blake and led to an argument Weiss.

While Ruby and Yang managed to diffuse the situation somewhat, it seemed that the universe wouldn't take no for an answer, and just as things had finally calmed down a Faunus stowaway had run past the group and by seemingly just doing so, had reignited the previous argument. Weiss seemed to have a chip on her shoulder against Faunus, not as bad as that Cardin guy, but she was definitely not a friend to all (or apparently even any) Faunus. It seemed to show as she barely said anything as the two teams had talked to Velvet.

Amazingly, the argument had continued until they returned back to the dormitory and it was here that Ruby had gotten a glimpse of Weiss life. The Weiss' angry tone turned somber. What struck Ruby the most was that she had heard this tone before - her father had often used it whenever the topic of her mother was brought up. In Weiss' case it wasn't her mother who disappeared but close family friends and relatives, all of which were happened when she was very much aware unlike Ruby's case where she was too young to remember anything. And unlike Ruby's case, the White Fang were the cause of not many but _all_ of those losses. Now it made a lot of sense why Weiss disliked the Faunus in general, the White Fang was not only their symbol but those who had directly harmed her family.

Then, the biggest shock of that day came - Blake was a White Fang member.*

While it wasn't an outright admission, there was really little room for alternate interpretations. It also didn't help that Blake had run immediately after that and so they had spent the past day looking for their teammate in order to sort things out. However, it appeared that Blake was very good at not wanting to be found. It also didn't help that Weiss had barely spent any energy at all in helping with the search.

Having just woken up, Ruby's mind imagined all sorts of scenarios including getting expelled for either having a member of the White Fang in the team or not having a complete team if ever they couldn't find Blake and somehow manage to hide the truth about said member's past.

Ruby shook her head and the depressing thoughts away.

"ITS SUNDAY!" Came a cheerful yell somewhere outside the room.

Nora.

"WHICH MEANS FUNDAY!"

"What on Remnant..." Ruby heard Weiss grumble beneath her.

Ruby briefly thought to ask the other team for help but quickly dismissed the idea. This was a problem for Team RWBY and they would have to solve it themselves. She didn't need to involve her newest friends into this mess. Now that she was thinking of them, Ruby briefly envied Team PRWN. The members were were good at academics, each seemed to have unique skills for both in and out of fighting, and they were each relatively strong, even having the bonus of extra muscle that was Nora. They seemed to be the perfect team Weiss wanted so badly when they first started out in Beacon weeks ago. Ruby was optimistic that they could work things out but with Blake gone, now she wasn't so sure anymore.

\- 0 -

~ Team PRWN ~

"So Ren," Nora said as she wolfed down her breakfast, "I was thinking that we could all go see a movie today! That one franchise _finally_ made the sequel, y'know the one with the really cool suit of armor and the shield that this other guy can throw, the lightning hammer-"

"I've heard its quite good." Ren said finishing up his meal, "What do you think Pyrrha?"

"Oh, uh, I've heard of this movie franchise but I normally just wait for the digital release," Pyrrha responded nervously, "People sometimes looked like they were going to fight for the tickets to see it first."

"Pfft! That's no way to enjoy a movie," Nora scoffed, "It should be seen on the big screen! Right Walter?"

"Eh?" Walter looked up from his coffee mug and empty plate. He had already eaten ahead. Allegedly.

"The movie..." Nora supplied helpfully.

"Oh, never heard of it," Walter shrugged.

Two palms slammed the table, causing it to shake.

"Blasphemy!" Nora growled, "Yet another reason to bring enlightenment to the heathens! That settles it, we're all going to see the movie!"

"Uh, you see Nora-" "I have plans for today." Both Pyrrha and Walter spoke at the same time.

"Just you the two of you?" Nora narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Just _me_." Walter held up his scroll, "I've narrowed down what I think I'll be needing for the next couple of weeks. Maybe next time."

"I'm running low on supplies as well," Pyrrha stated.

"Oh? If you can give me the list I'll be happy to pick them up along the way," Walter offered.

"Walter..." Pyrrha's eye almost twitched as her plan to avoid going out in public was endangered.

"Well, guess that leaves our fearless leader free to go!" Nora whooped.

"I guess so," Pyrrha sighed in defeat.

Minutes later they were all dressed for the day, but the biggest surprise came when Pyrrha emerged. Gone was the school uniform she normally wore and instead she was dressed in baggy jeans, a plain shirt and a hoodie.

"I tend to draw in a crowd whenever I'm out..." Pyrrha admitted with some embarrassment when they stared at her. Drawing in a crowd was putting it mildly, there would be reporters, paparazzi, fans, requests for autographs, handshakes, selfies, interviews... and the list went on. Despite what most people thought there were major drawbacks to being famous.

"Well, there are other ways to hide in plain sight." Ren offered, once they realized what she meant, "You'd be surprised at what a change of clothes and hairstyle can do."

"I agree," Walter added, "You overestimate people."

"C'mon! Lets go change into something else!" Nora pulled Pyrrha into their room before the redhead could protest.

They emerged a few minutes later with Pyrrha dressed in a new outfit. The baggy pants and hoodie disappeared and were replaced with a better set of jeans, a blouse and jacket over it and finally a scarf around her neck rounded out her appearance. They were all in warm colors which Nora had chosen to complement Pyrrha's red hair and green eyes but the latter's hair was a mess, no doubt the result of Nora's energetic pace in dressing her.

Now it was Ren's turn. After sitting Pyrrha down in front of a mirror his hands skillfully styled her hair into a stylish bun that took advantage of its length. In the end wasn't too flamboyant but neither could be considered the utilitarian type either.

When all was said and done, Pyrrha looked at her reflection in the mirror and saw she did indeed looked better compared to her earlier set-up, and that people might not realize it at first...but they would eventually know it was her.

"And now for the final touch," Walter stood up, just as tendrils of anxiety began to creep into Pyrrha.

Her partner opened a drawer and removed one of Nora's joke glasses. After removing the false nose and any other similar trappings on it, Walter placed the wide rimmed glasses on Pyrrha. To her surprise it did seem to hide her features a bit once put on.

"You'll need a better pair," Walter said, "But these will do for now. I'm sure the mall has many choice booths for fashion glasses."

The trip to the city was nerve-wracking to say the least. On the way to the mall Pyrrha kept expecting someone to yell out once they recognized her but thankfully nothing of the sort happened. Maybe there was something to this hide-in-plain-sight strategy after all.

Upon reaching the movie theatre Nora hurriedly lined up to purchase tickets. Considering how much hype there was for the movie, all of the reserved seats were quickly purchased online and the remainder of the public had to get their ticket the old fashioned way. However, Walter elected to go ahead with his business, and Pyrrha wanted to purchase a better fitting set of fashion glasses.

About an hour later the two were strolling down the street, having accomplished most of their objectives for that day. Pyrrha was especially cheerful, considering that no one had seemed to recognize her. A few took a second look, but ultimately kept on walking and most importantly, there were no reporters or fan-squeeing. It wouldn't change the image people attached to her at Beacon but with this she could at least do what she wanted during her downtime now.

"So where are we headed?" She asked her partner, who had predictably kept silent the entire time.

"We, and that actually means I will be heading for the park," Walter responded, "For a nice stroll."

"Walter, you sound like an old man," Pyrrha remarked, still high on the feeling liberation, "Not that I mean that in a bad way."

"I suppose you could say I'm an old soul." He shrugged.

 _"Blake!"_

 _"Blake! Where are you?"_

Several familiar voices could be heard approaching them. The two looked up to see the members of Team RWBY ahead of them, or rather most of the members. Accompanying them was an orange haired girl Walter didn't recognize.

"Oh! Hey Walter!" Ruby greeted them as they approached, "I didn't expect to run into you like this."

"Well, neither did I," Walter responded, "Why were you calling for Blake like that? Did you happen to lose sight of her?"

"Uh sort of," Ruby's shoulders hung down sadly, "You see she-"

"You would not believe how much danger we were in!," Weiss interjected, "She ran off because- Mfmptft."

Yang clamped a hand around Weiss' mouth, making her word unintelligible even with Walter's hearing. Try as she might, Weiss couldn't break free as Yang was easily the stronger of the two.

"Because Weiss-cream and Blakey got into a fight. It escalated pretty quickly," Yang gave the struggling heiress in her arm a warning look, "Right?"

Weiss fixed the blonde a glare, resigned that there was no way she could break out of the hold short of using her Aura.

"Hmmm, so that is why Blake ran off." The orange haired girl murmured.

"Oh, yeah." Ruby piped up, "Walter this is Penny. Penny, Walter is one of my classmates."

"Greetings!" Penny saluted in an awkward manner.

"I didn't think this could get even more embarrassing," Weiss mumbled.

"Hello," Walter nodded back.

"What just a 'hello'?" Yang pushed Weiss away, "Aren't you forgetting something?" The blonde now had a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Is there something else?" Walter was genuinely perplexed.

"Yeah! Like how come you didn't introduce us to your lady friend over there?" Yang pointed to his side, with a grin that seemed to stretch across her face, "Gotta be honest here Wally, I never expected you to be a playa! Looks like we're safe though, since you seem to be into red-heads! Hahaha!"

"What do-oh." Walter turned to see Pyrrha with an amused look.

"Don't worry though, I won't tell Pyrrha about your preferences," Yang grinned, "Wouldn't want her to start imagining double meanings behind your actions towards her eh?"

"Funny you that you mentioned Pyrrha," Walter responded, "because she's close by."

With this he would have his own little joke. However, the response wasn't what he expected, despite the massive hint Walter gave to her, Yang didn't seem to get it. Or rather she had different interpretation of it.

"Bwahaha! Are you serious?!" Yang let out a belly laugh that resounded across the street, "Oh my god! This situation is just like those in Blake's books!"

True to herself, Yang had investigated the books her partner seemed so invested in whenever they were left out in the open. In that sort of state they were practically begging to be read! The first one was definitely tease material but deemed to be an isolated incident. Yang was fairly open minded, but then there was a second book, and a third...

"So where is she?" Yang looked around, despite the tears in her eyes from laughing, "It would totally kill the mood if she opted for the 'newspaper' camouflage in following you."

"Excuse me Yang," The girl beside Walter removed her glasses, shocking the group (except Walter) to silence, "But could you lower your voice? You might be disturbing some people."

Yang and Ruby's mouths dropped a good foot down. Even Weiss seemed surprised as her eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets.

"What?!"

"How did you-?"

"Pyrrha?"

"Astounding!" Penny clasped her hands in appreciation.

"I told you that you're overestimating people," Walter said with a smug tone.

"Walter, that's not a very nice way of saying it," Pyrrha lightly chastised him.

"What I said was the truth," Walter raised his eyebrow, "That interpretation of my words was beyond my expectations...or most people's."

Pyrrha shook her head with disagreement, but decided to change to topic before things got out of hand.

"So, you mentioned something about Blake?" Pyrrha asked Ruby.

"Uh, yeah, you probably guessed it but she ran off," Ruby answered.

"I see," Pyrrha looked thoughtful, "Do you need help? We're mostly done with our business in the city anyway."

"Really?" Ruby seemed exited about the prospect of increasing the chances of finding Blake but suddenly stopped herself.

"That would be great, but this is our team's problem," She declined, "I need to take responsibility for it."

Ruby remembered Walter and Professor Ozpin's words about assuming the role of a leader. She also didn't mention about her not wanting Penny tagging along, not only because she was there but because no polite variant of "No, thank you" seemed to get her to listen.

"If it would help you Ruby then I don't think it would be a problem at all," Pyrrha smiled gently, "Isn't that right Walter?"

"Well, I suppose it would still count as a walk around town," Walter sighed, "The only difference would be that I'm looking for Blake."

"C'mon Rubes," Yang encouraged her younger sibling, "The more eyes out there the better! This isn't something you can do on you own."

At least not easily. Yang had quickly learned that personally searching for her missing mother was a lot harder than the idea seemed to suggest, which was why she planned to drop by Junior's place later if ever they couldn't find Blake when classes resumed. The information dealer had eyes and ears all around town and unless Blake had left town it would only be a matter of time.

"All right, thanks in advance!" Ruby nodded gratefully.

With this the group separated, with Walter and Pyrrha going on their own rather than as a pair like Ruby and Penny or Yang and Weiss.

"Just my luck." Walter scowled.

For every good thing that seemed to happen to him something like this occurred to tip the scale, almost as if the universe was balancing itself. Well, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. He now had a legitimate reason to get away from Pyrrha, and he could finally get a smoke. Besides, he was only supposed to look around for Blake, no one ever said he had to turn over every stone doing so. A sinister smile suddenly spread across his face as he walked away. Just now, Walter remembered that he didn't have the number of any member of Team RWBY on his scroll. Oops.

* * *

~ Vale Commercial Docks, Blake Belladonna ~

Blake flattened herself as much as she could on the container she took position on. Her feline traits greatly helped in this regard as it seemed to be the natural position from which to stalk her prey. The weekend was a mess for her in more ways than one. First she had inadvertently revealed her past which she tried so hard to leave behind, and second she could possibly face expulsion from Beacon for being a member of the White Fang. As egalitarian as the school was, there seemed to be simply no justification for it keep a student who was affiliated with an extremist group and even if they did, the government would surely have something to say about it.

It might not even end with just Blake's expulsion. Another concern was how it could affect her team. Ruining another person's future, even it wasn't the physical type, had a bitter familiarity with Blake as she had definitely _hurt_ more than a few people when she still a zealot in the organization.

"So anything happen yet?" A loud voice asked.

Blake nearly jumped out of her skin as a blonde Faunus crawled up next to her rather noisily. Sun.

She had met the Faunus earlier. For some unknown reason, perhaps just needing someone to talk to about her situation, Blake had told him who she was, emphasis on the 'was' and about her current problem. Surprisingly he had offered a good suggestion of trying to disprove the White Fang's involvement in the recent Dust robberies by observing, and maybe even catching the actual culprit. If not, then simple proof such as a video from her scroll ought to be enough. Maybe it was the Torchwick guy Ruby mentioned last Friday? Even Blake had heard about him since he had been all over the news at some point and he definitely wasn't a Faunus.

"Nothing yet," Blake said in a low whisper, "Can you try not to make too much noise? We're trying to stay hidden."

"Hey relax, if no one's here then no one's here," Sun said casually.

Blake resisted the urge to smash her head on the container. She suspected that if Sun were to be given a manual on infiltration he'd chuck it over his shoulder after a few pages. Granted, not everyone was suited to being stealthy but they could at least try- Was he eating in front of her?!

"Want some?" Sun offered her a sandwich, "I stole some food a couple of hours ago."

"Do you always steal things on a whim?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun grinned before realizing his error, "whoops, too much, too soon."

"So...do you really think the White Fang is behind all of this?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

Blake decided to take the bait before she did something she would regret.

"I-I don't know," Blake answered honestly, "They've never needed that much Dust before."

Dust was used in almost everything aspect of life in Remnant. One could say that it was the foundation civilization on Remnant. Since Blake was a former member, and well placed in the organization to boot, she was privy to some of the larger operations in the White Fang. However, the recent Dust robberies involved every single source of Dust the thieves could possibly find. Crystals, dust form, raw, refined etc. they didn't discriminate. Entire warehouses and stores were emptied of their contents as long as it was Dust in some form.

The whirring of an approaching airship's engines suddenly pulled Blake from her thoughts. Flying at a low angle from the sea an unmarked Bullhead hovered over an empty spot on the docks that held several containers of Dust, which also happened to be near where Blake and Sun were staying.

"Looks like we're going to find out," Sun became serious as the doors of the Bullhead opened.

Blake hoped in her heart that she was wrong about her gut feeling, that the accusations were simply the result of biased minds.

The occupants, clad in white and black uniforms with a beast and three slash marks emblazoned on the back dropped out of the airship. Bone white masks that were modeled after Grimm features covered their faces as their owners kept a lookout for potential trouble.

"Oh no..." Blake released all of the pent up negative energy in her with a disappointed sigh.

"You didn't really think it was them, did you?" Sun asked, now completely serious.

"I guess I needed to see it with my own eyes," Blake responded sadly.

"No not like that you mutts!" A patronizing voice said, "Those go over there!"

Blake looked up to see, with a moderate amount of surprise, to see the infamous criminal, Roman Torchwick giving orders to the White Fang members. What was even more strange was that they were _actually_ listening to him. Hope lit up in her once and Blake decided that this could, in some way, explain the White Fang's uncharacteristic behavior. Before she could get far Sun grabbed her by the arm.

"What are you doing?" Now he was whispering.

"Something's wrong," Blake answered, freeing her arm, "The White Fang would never take orders from a human."

Of this Blake was sure as even human sympathizers were shunned by the White Fang. What did Torchwick have on these members? Blackmail as to their involvement with an extremist group? Outright deception that he was working on behalf of the organization?

Whatever it was Blake was going to find out tonight.

* * *

~ Vale Commercial Docks, Walter Dornez ~

Walter stood a good distance from the railings of the Vale docks, enjoying the last bit of his cigar before it would, sadly, be consumed. Overall, the remainder of his afternoon was quite satisfactory. Just as he had said earlier, Walter walked around town keeping an eye for Blake but did little else. During that time he not only savored his alone time but also managed to get a decent mental layout of the city. There was only so much his scroll's built in map function could accomplish after all.

He stared out in the waves of the sea as they gently lapped against the structures of the commercial docks. Seeing the water, dark blue even with a full moon out, Walter was reminded that he should avoid large bodies of water unless he was sure whatever transport he was taking was sufficiently secure. During his youth, Walter had once flung a natural vampire into the sea just to see if the old weakness was true as stated by the manuals. The result was not only decidedly fatal for the vampire but quite spectacular, and even now the scene was quite vivid in Walter's memories. However, should it happen to him the result would be very...unpleasant to say the least.

"Hmm?" A muffled sound caught his attention.

To his right, at a great distance, Walter saw what was unmistakably fire caused by an explosion. After giving it some thought, Walter decided to investigate. While it was quite unlikely that Blake or any of Team RWBY was involved it was a chance to see some action for a change. He had felt a bit caged up in Beacon and wanted to get rid of some of frustration and this little incident could be just that. Maybe he might even get some valuable information out of it.

\- 0 -

"Hmmm, intriguing..." Walter hummed to himself.

Upon arrival he had positioned himself up atop of a crane and, for lack of a better way of describing it, cloaked himself in shadows in order to observe the situation without fear of being discovered. He didn't have much time to familiarize himself with his vampire abilities but he had to start somewhere and a field test was best way getting results. He also utilized his "third eye" that he occasionally heard Alucard and Seras speak of when the impaler was educating his newest spawn on how to utilize her powers. And it was proving quite useful here.

The more he learned of it, the more the world of Remnant continually surprised Walter. Ever since noting that he was no longer on Earth, Walter had been cautious, content of observing his surroundings before revealing himself to this new world and now his behavior was just vindicated when he saw Penny, the girl that was accompanying Ruby earlier, take down multiple Bullheads using swords that were connected with ultra-thin wires similar to Walter's. The fact that someone was using a weapon similar to his own made Walter disgruntled as it was considered quite unique even by the supernatural creatures he had fought. Perhaps his only consolation was that these blades were mainly used for recalling the blades back to the owner or using them as rudimentary tethers to swing the weapons about and this "Penny" had even once used them in the manner he did.

However, that wasn't what was bothering him.

Concentrating the blades onto a spinning, Penny had created some sort of beam that was powerful enough to shear an approaching Bullhead in two. As far as he knew, Walter did not encounter any enemies utilizing such a weapon. He would have to research on it somehow, including ways of countering it in combat. As fine as Walter's control of his wires was, something like a beam would definitely make it past the tiny gaps of shields he would form, and deflecting them didn't seem likely either.

With the destruction of three of four Bullheads things seemed to be winding down as whoever Blake and Ruby were fighting were now defeated. Amidst the smoke and crushed containers, Walter spied a person with orange hair in a white coat making his way to the last Bullhead with a couple of escorts. The final aircraft was well hidden among the containers and was obviously being held in reserve in case something went wrong, but was easily visible from his spot.

Walter smiled.

It was time to contribute to society.

\- 0 -

 _A mess. What a bloody mess._

The thought kept repeating in Roman's mind as he and his two escorts hurried to the remaining Bullhead that was parked behind several containers, all the while the notorious thief pondered as to how he was going to explain this to Cinder. He warned her! He warned her that working with these animals was a bad idea! Things would have gone much smoother if he had just used the regular guys. There was virtually no problem up until now. The fact that he was using some Faunus had led some wannabe-hero Faunus to try to disprove the White Fang's involvement in the Dust robberies.

Well, looks like the Faunus will have to contend with a lower public image now, not that he cared. Roman was interested only in his own skin and he'd sell them out in a heartbeat if he could but unfortunately they worked for the same person and he suspected Cinder would prefer having a lot of disposable bodies over a single skilled hired help.

"Start-up the engine," Roman said as they reached the aircraft, but one of the guards stopped to look about.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me?!" Roman spat out, his exasperation showing.

"I thought someone was following us for a moment," the guard turned around, "I guess it was nothing."

Before he could take another step, the barrel of his weapon was sheared off, spinning lazily in the air before it landed on the ground. The three were dumbstruck at the event but only Roman knew what it actually meant. It meant that the brat was-

The guard suddenly erupted into bloody chunks before even being able utter a single sound.

"You know in some parts of the world they cut off your hand for stealing," [1] A lazy voice said.

Roman and his remaining guard followed the direction of the voice to see a casually dressed teenager standing _vertically_ on a container, looking down at them.

"Now I'm no lawyer or bobby**," He continued to speak as he casually walked down the container and onto the ground, "but I'm pretty sure what you've been doing is theft."

"RGHR!" Seeing his friend cut down so brutally and without mercy, the White Fang guard opened fire with his assault rifle on full auto.

However, the bullets were somehow all being deflected despite the sheer volume of Dust rounds expended. Just like that night, Roman once again thought he saw small trails of reflection around the brat, which was probably what he used to cut things up as well as defend himself. Simultaneously he pressed a transmitter disguised as a false button on his coat. The transmitter was a simple one and would be received only by Neopolitan. As part of their arrangements, Roman would normally keep her close by, letting her do as she pleased so long as she was not visible as an insurance in case things went south.

And right now he was in it pretty _deep_.

"That's enough out of you," Walter flicked his hand and his wires lashed out quickly and efficiently dismembering the Faunus.

"Now that we have some quiet I believe, you have some reparations to do," Walter took a step forward, while Roman stepped back at the same time, slowly inching his way to the Bullhead.

"Oh? Its you, the one with the horrible taste in fashion," Walter sounded amused, "I take it you didn't learn your lesson last time? No worries, you still have another good hand."

"You're the one who's gonna get schooled you little shit," Roman growled.

A blur of multiple colors approached Walter from the side and the former butler easily dodged several high speed kicks aimed at various parts of his body. Finally the storm of attacks ceased and his assailant revealed herself to be a young lady adorned in an array of color which reminded Walter of ice cream, or some other sweet.

"Kind of young to be a teacher, isn't she?" Walter mused out loud before sending a probing attack with his wire.

He aimed for he center mass, not really seeing the need to play around now. However, instead of the sound of blood gushing out and maybe even a scream, the figure of the young woman shattered like glass.

Once again he sensed something approaching his flank and avoided another series of kicks, this time there was a flash and Walter increased the distance of his dodging and avoided a blade hidden in the girl's parasol. A wicked smile spread across her face, clearly relishing the fight she was in. Walter tried another probing attack, this time it was a diagonal slash with a single wire. Much like before the girl's image broke apart and she was nowhere to be seen.

"Can't fight what you can't see brat!" Roman laughed gleefully from the open bay door of the Bullhead.

"Ah, it must be a semblance at play," Walter thought, "Truly this world possesses several wild cards in its deck."

Having realized this, Walter decided to step up his game. Now abandoning his schoolboy image, he extended multiple wires outwards, forming a ring around his body. They would serve to act as a warning whenever the girl attempted to approach him. Based on her earlier preferences, she opted for the blind side. Sensible but predictable, a safe but difficult to counter maneuver, however, she would need much more than tricks to defeat Walter who had faced down what amounted to a demon incarnate that was Alucard.

Much like how a spider would be alerted to an insect that flew into its web, a portion of Walter's wires was disturbed, indicating her approach. All this happened in a fraction of a second but it was all he needed.

"Oh dear, what an obfuscating Semblance!" Walter feigned worry, "What ever shall I DO!?"

As he spoke the last word, he spun around faster than any person on the scene could follow. His body seemingly snaked around his assailant and rows of shark-like teeth closed on the throat of Neopolitan. Neopolitan struggled to get free but Walter wrapped an arm around her, preventing her from using her parasol's blade. Not that it matter since he was far stronger than her, with or without Aura. As her struggles became more frantic Walter responded by clamping down harder on her throat and then - he began to _feed_.

Normally when he fed Walter felt invigorated, like a starving man consuming a hearty meal or glass of cool water on a hot summer afternoon. But this- this was something else! He didn't know if it was because this girl had Aura or had unlocked Semblance but the blood was practically ambrosial! It was so delicious that Walter's became dizzy and his mind threatened to go places were it not for a scream of pure terror.

" _SHIT!_ "

Upon seeing the barbarity before him, Roman had dashed into the front of the Bullhead and began to activate the controls. Walter saw this and with some reluctance halted his feeding, as delicious as the meal was this was a prime opportunity to test another one of the tools Millennium's vampirization program granted him. He scooped up the utility belt from the fallen White Fang Guard and flung the body of Neopolitan into the open hatch of the Bullhead. The ship tilted slightly from the impact but otherwise managed to obtain enough lift to get away.

Walter smiled. What a productive Sunday this was.

* * *

~ Docks, Team RWBY ~

"There you are!"

A loud voice called out amidst the chatter of the police.

Blake, Ruby and Sun turned in the direction of the call to see Weiss striding towards them with Yang not far behind.

"Weiss, I'm sorry for running like that," Blake began "but I want you to know that I had left the White Fang long before-"

"Save it Blake!" Weiss hissed, "I can't believe you! Do you know how much you made us run around these past couple of days looking for you?! You could have said something and let me judge the situation for myself."

"But Weiss wait she was trying to-" Ruby tried to defend Blake but was ignored by her partner.

"All my words earlier were directed _at the White Fang_ ," Weiss continued, "All of whom happen to be Faunus, but I never once said I disliked all of Faunus kind. So next time - try to go to you team when you have a problem and not with this rapscallion."

"I-thanks Weiss," Blake tried to stop a tear from forming.

"Hey!" Sun protested once he realized who she meant.

"Am I wrong?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it was neat that Blake confirmed your theory that she left the group otherwise your speech would've been awkward," Yang laughed, "She's been thinking about what to say the entire afternoon by the way."

"Quiet you brute!" Weiss admonished.

Ruby watched the exchange with relief. It was the same kind of arguing they did when they had first started out the semester.

Team RWBY was back together.

* * *

~ Hidden Warehouse ~

Roman eased the Bullhead down the skylight of the warehouse where he kept his stash of stolen goods. He looked back to see the body of Neopolitan slumped to the side of the cargo hold. The brat had thrown her into the open hatch, which he'd forgotten to close in his terror filled bid to escape. Dried blood caked the upper part of her clothes and she hadn't moved since. While he wasn't used to it, Roman wasn't a stranger to death either.

"Better you than me I suppose," Roman muttered as he exited the craft, "Tough luck Neo."

He lit a cigar to calm himself down. _That. Was. It!_

This little act was getting too messed up of late and Roman resolved to leave Cinder's employ before he ended up like Neo. He couldn't leave directly of course, Cinder didn't take kindly to those things. First he'd scrape and beg for forgiveness, promise to get another shipment of Dust then bugger out at the first opportunity he got.

Roman heard the soft sounds of boots behind him and he slowly turned around, afraid that that brat had stowed away on the ship. Instead, to his surprise, he saw Neo unsteadily walking towards him, her head hung down.

"Well I'll be..." He flicked the cigar away and walked up to his partner in crime. Her Aura must have kicked in at just the right time and healed her wounds on the way here!

"Neo! You okay?!" Roman grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her, "That little shit sure did a number on you, but don't worry this'll be-"

He stopped as Neo looked up at him with dull eyes. She was probably groggy from the loss of blood but it wasn't that that stopped Roman. Since when did Neo have purple eyes?! A low moan escaped Neo's mouth followed by a dry rasp as if she had a hard time breathing. Suddenly the purple eyes flashed and she was on him before Roman could blink.

"Neo what the hell-!" Roman was silenced when a powerful punch snapped his head to the side.

Immediately he felt himself tire out, not having a high Aura stamina in the first place. Neo arched her head back and then sank her teeth into his shoulder. Roman screamed in pain as his former associate ripped off a chunk of flesh and swallowed it. Then she repeated the process again and again, this time it resorted to tearing away at flesh aside from just consuming it. Soon the screams stopped and all that was left of Roman Torchwick were grisly chunks of flesh scattered around the warehouse...

\- 0 -

Cinder opened the door to the warehouse and strode inside as if she owned the place, her two charges, Emerald and Mercury following dutifully behind. She had learned through tapped police frequencies that Roman had failed yet again and was probably already here licking his wounds after his getaway. Part of the plan was to deprive Vale of a large amount of Dust and so far, she was _not pleased_. Depending on how he groveled Cinder might actually leave Roman mostly whole after she was done meting out his punishment..

A metallic tang permeated the air which caused her to slow down. She knew that smell...

As they rounded the corner the trio was greeted with a horrific sight. Bloodied chunks were strewn everywhere, almost like a child had thrown a fit and tossed their toys about. She heard Emerald and Mercury gag but there was another sound that she focused on. It was low, but she heard the crushing and chewing nearby. Cinder readied a Fire Dust arrow and knocked it on her obsidian bow. Had a Grimm somehow made it into the city?

They followed the sound to see someone hunched over, busily chewing on something.

Suddenly it stopped, like an android that suddenly had its power supply cut. Then slowly it straightened up and eerily turned its head back towards them. Cinder recognized the face of Roman's hired help despite the blood all over it. She snarled at them, purple eyes blazing with supernatural malice. With surprising speed the girl sprang on all fours, jumping on crates and taking random patterns but was clearly headed towards them.

Too slow. Cinder tracked the girl and loosed the arrow. The projectile landed squarely on the girl's chest in mid-flight and immediately began to disintegrate her. However, the body still had some muscle left to it and, following its master's implanted order, pulled the pins of the grenades that formerly belonged to the White Fang guard.

The resulting explosion caused the trio to momentarily shield their eyes.

Finally, Cinder opened her eyes to see bits and pieces burning a ghostly blue, obviously the remains of the girl that survived the explosion and from being disintegrated by her arrow. However, her fire didn't _burn blue_ at all.

"What-was that?" Emerald choked out, shaken by the encounter.

Cinder narrowed her eyes.

"A complication."

* * *

* They don't know yet that Blake is a former member if I recall.

**British slang for Police Officer.

Author's note:

Before anything else, I'd like to inform readers that the succeeding chapter, which I simultaneously posted, is considered the epilogue for RWBY vol. 1 of this story. Just a heads up in case some people miss it due to my unscheduled updates.

So, with that out of the way this was the chapter I wanted to work on out of all the planned the chapters for this story with my second personal favorite being chapter 2. I might have overplayed Pyrrha's insecurities at the start of this chapter, however, I had to find some way of getting them out of the dormitories. Sure Walter could have simply walked out claiming to want to buy supplies but he's part of a team now, and he'll have to live with that for quite a while whether his character would like it or not. While the story is about him, I also felt like I had to give some of the other characters some screen time to better give the story life especially since Team RWBY is now in the support role.

So this chapter sees Walter using a lot of minor vampire powers such as walking vertically up walls, staying hidden in the shadows, the ability to make ghouls out of victims and at the same time features some weaknesses such as large bodies of water. The only power I don't recall seeing in the OVA was the "third eye" which Seras used only once but it doesn't seem to be a major thing so I just tossed it in with the rest. Regarding the power to make ghouls, I'd like to point out that victims of Millennium's artificial vampires turn into them regardless of their virginity. Being subject to a more advanced procedure, Walter can presumably order them around. It seemed to be the only power Jan Valentine had going for him so I considered him the prototype aspect of this ability. Knowing The Doctor, he probably included it just to see if it wouldn't conflict with the other abilities on a procedural level.

That's it for this chapter, be sure to head on over to the epilogue!


	7. Chapter 7

Vol. 1 Epilogue

* * *

I do not own RWBY or Hellsing.

" + " Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

*, ** etc. are annotations. Located at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

~ Vale City, Walter Dornez ~

Walter felt the link between him and his new puppet severed as he was walking down a street. He had wanted to see if he could create ghouls and he was not disappointed. After all, if even the lowest of Millennium's artificial vampires could do why couldn't he? After witnessing the various Semblance and abilities at work of that night once more vindicated his caution and so he had given the ghoul a set of instructions: Kill the thief, avoid discovery, do not propagate and if it were on the verge of being defeated remove all evidence by detonating the set of grenades given to it.

The second to the last command was imperative as a horde of Ghouls would cause an unnecessary ruckus which he didn't need right now. This meant that the creature would have to tear apart any and all victims one at a time to prevent them from rising again as a fellow Ghoul. Lastly, with the set of grenades taken from the fallen bodyguards, Walter's final command would ensure that there would be no evidence left behind. Whoever destroyed the Ghoul was likely person from the criminal underworld anyway whom no one would believe and even if they recounted the experience would have nothing, except maybe traumatic memories, to show for the encounter.

Belly full and confident that his orders were carried out Walter decided to enjoy the rest of the night as he strolled down the busy street of the city.

* * *

~ Abandoned Cabin, Vale forest ~

"And you're sure of what you saw?" A dry voice asked with seeming disinterest.

"Yes, I'm sure. It definitely wasn't an episode of insanity," Cinder replied, still kneeling. She had given her report on the incident, not because she needed to make excuses but because the creature she encountered _didn't seem natural_.

"Hmm, if what you said is true, this is intriguing but not enough reason to halt our plans," the voice replied, "Continue with your work. Much effort has gone into recent events and I will not tolerate failure at this stage."

"I'll have to bring in another asset to replace the thief," Cinder. This would mean even less visibility in their activities but she was close enough to completion.

"Whatever it takes," The voice replied tersely, "Speaking of assets, since you speculated some other power at work here, try to see if they are alone and bring them before me. Perhaps we can use them for our end game. Humanity is not short on enemies after all."

Cinder once more gave an acknowledgement and looked to the floating, tentacled Grimm that served as a communicator and herald of sorts to Salem. However, her mistress declined to show herself on the thing's dome and it floated away into the darkness.

\- 0 -

Adam Taurus replayed the latest news video for the nth time that night when the call came. He muted the sound but continued to let the clip play.

"Hmph! So he botched something as simple as that eh?" The Adam's sneered, "Its not like I expected much from him anyway."

There was a brief silence as the caller spoke on the separate screen.

"Sure, in fact I was going to head on over to Vale anyway before you called," He said pausing a certain scene in the news video, "Some personal business to take care of."

The caller spoke once more this time causing Adam to frown when they expressed their disapproval.

"Torchwick was a self-serving thief," He said derisively, "No more, and probably even less. You'll soon see the difference when someone with actual skill steps in."

"Besides, I have an actual interest in seeing your plans for Vale play out as well," Adam continued, "Think of my personal business as an additional motivator."

With that Adam ended the call from Cinder and turned his attention to the paused scene. On it were some kids who helped foil Torchwick's Dust robbery, with the White Fang's involvement highlighted. One of them clearly was unmistakably a Schnee, the silver-white hair a dead giveaway as well as the emblem on her bolero. Normally the very mention of the family that controlled Remnant's dominant Dust company would anger Adam but there was someone else who was far more important that caught his interest.

When she left, it might as well have been a slap to his face and their cause. Now, she was seen with a Schnee of all people! Well, here was an opportunity to _sort things out_ with her and hurt the Schnees at the same time. How ironic, that her betrayal was going to make things both fun and easier at the same time.

He traced the outline of the face on the screen as he once did in real life not so long ago.

"I'll be seeing you soon...Blake."

* * *

Author's note:

Alright! The story arc is officially complete! While this story was made on a whim, I'd decided to at least complete it with an arc and that goal was met. Writing it has really helped with some minor ways of presentation which is going to carry over to my other works that need completing. I was also pleasantly surprised at the positive reception of the story and that really helped in making the chapters.

The next chapter might take some time to make as this month is going to be very busy for me, aside from the fact my other story "Two Sides of a Coin" will now be be getting my focus as I've put it off for too long and some readers want to see conclusion of the first arc as well.

Anyway, that should be about it. See you in the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

Remnant's Angel of Death

Vol. 2

 **I do not own RWBY or Hellsing.**

" + " Iconic Hellsing smile/eye glow/shiny glasses

*, ** etc. are annotations. Located at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

~ Vale City, Mercury Black, Emerald ~

Mercury walked with a lazy swagger as he took in the sights, sounds and scents of Vale City. It was so different from the many frontier towns he used to travel with his father and then eventually with with Cinder and Emerald.

He found Vale City incredibly boring.

The lack of alertness, in any form, of the cityfolk spoke volumes of how safe they felt behind their walls and guards. In contrast people from outside the city lived a life on the edge. While not necessarily a barebones lifestyle, the ever present danger of a Grimm attack and the fact that their work was harder and more time consuming clearly differentiated them from the sight around him.

"I got the location!" A voice called out.

Mercury turned to see a dark skinned girl approach him.

"And our lunch money." She waved a small wad of money before quickly pocketing it.

For a brief moment Mercury wondered who she stole it from but quickly dismissed the thought. It didn't matter. Few things mattered to him.

"Right, let's go then." He said, "Which way?"

The girl gestured in a direction and began to walk and Mercury quietly followed. He was always the kind of guy who followed.

After about an hour of walking they passed a bookstore with a sign that declared "Clearance Sale!". The girl stopped and seemed to peer inside.

"C'mon Em," Mercury said not bothering to look inside. Books never interested him as he was never around a place for too long to able to read anything voluminous. His education was a bit more...practical, " _She_ gave us very specific instructions."

"Just taking a peek," Emerald answered before moving on.

A few minutes of walking and the number of people in the streets lessened. Part of the reason was the time of day and the other was because of the area of town they were now in.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Emerald slowed her pace so she could get a look at her de facto partner, "you've been quiet lately - not that I'm complaining. You didn't even try to tempt me back there at Tukson's Bookstore, orders or no."

"Oh, you mean how we're in a bit of a snag right now?" Mercury responded, "or that 'thing' we saw the other night? I saw a lot of things before I met you and Cinder Em, and I definitely never saw anything like _that_ before."

"Scared?" Emerald teased but got no reaction, "Look, as freaky as _that_ was our backers aren't pushovers either. We could get a new ally in all this so try to be positive."

"Whatever," he grunted.

Emerald continued to walk towards the nightclub, the potential leak that was Tukson already forgotten. She saw the mark in an alley as she passed by. To others it looked like a cat was trying to sharpen its claws on the wall. For her, a thief by trade, she knew a group mark when she saw one.

An hour later they arrived at the place their informants said was one of the best places in Vale to obtain information. Well before opening time.

Junior fixed his tie as he prepared for the evening rush of his nightclub. Finally, after calling in some favors and putting his employees on overdrive, he himself had helped, the nightclub was ready for business. A day, or this case a night, without customers was a night of lost income. As he settled on the bar to relax a bit he heard angry voices coming from the entrance. He sighed. It was too early for this shit. Junior was a bout to signal Melanie and Miltia to see what the commotion was about when the front doors slammed open.

For a moment Junior feared that "Blondie", a nickname he had given to Yang Xiao Long, was back for whatever reason but neither of the silhouettes of the two people who entered the room matched the blonde troublemaker.

When they walked up to him he could see one was a girl with emerald hair and a boy dressed in silvery gray and black.

"Look, we're not open yet," Junior ground out, annoyed that kids kept coming to his establishment.

What would he do if it got the cops' attention? Dealings with the police he could handle, not the media attention it brought though. On its face Vale was a pretty safe and boring place to the average citizen and thus there wasn't much that could serve as fodder for the news.

"Hi there, we're looking for someone," the green haired girl said casually.

"Well they're not here," Junior said brusquely, "try some other place."

"But we _know_ he stopped by here," the boy in gray said breezily, " 'cuz our boss said so."

Emerald simultaneously fought the urge to smack her own face and gave Mercury a look.

 _Let me do the talking._

"As he said he stopped by here," Emerald continued, "You probably remember him, white coat, cigar...bowler hat."

"Yeah I remember him," Junior was careful not to give any names, "That little shit only paid half the amount we agreed on and none of my guys came back. Tell him if he ever shows his face here aga-"

Something dropped lightly on the counter. Using her Semblance, Emerald turned over the small bag she carried for the trip to show its only content, making the move seem faster than it had to be to maximize the effect of the action.

Junior stared at the item. It was a bowler hat, only it was charred and had some unidentifiable brown smudges on it. He had a few guesses as to what it actually was. He looked up to see the smug smirk on the boy's face that confirmed the worst implication.

"It might be pretty obvious but a lot of people were disappointed with him." The girl still kept her pleasant demeanor.

Of all the days for Melanie and Miltia to be not early.

"So we're here to clean up his mess," she continued after a heartbeat passed, "You can start with the juicy stuff in Vale."

* * *

~ Beacon Academy ~

"No! Why must we play these games that exploit our emotions!"

"Stay strong Weiss! Our people are counting on us!"

Despite the numerous signs around them Team RWBY had somehow taken it up upon themselves to liven up the library by playing a card game that quickly escalated in stakes in more ways than one.

Walter tried to tune out the noise behind him, instead looking out the window. The airships over the horizon had certainly cut an impressive sight. No doubt it was loaded with Atlesian troops and candidates. Stopping by what he assumed to be the city limits the ships slowly drifted in a holding pattern resembling a school of fish. Whatever message Atlas was trying send was at the very least hard to miss.

The gibbering finally stopped when two unfamiliar figures approached the table of RWBY. One was a blonde monkey Faunus while the other was a blue haired youth. From what Walter gathered they were acquaintances of Blake, at least the blonde was.

"Finally they stopped," Walter muttered, he turned the page of a book on the topic of weapon creation.

"Yes, they were on the verge of trouble if they kept that up in the library," Pyrrha agreed.

"Libraries are supposed to be for studying," Nora said to no one in particular as she flipped the page of a book she was reading. The pink wearing girl continually surprised Walter. One moment she completely carefree and the next she was serious. Not for the first time did he wonder what her true personality was.

On the other hand, his partner sat next to him, dressed in her school uniform. Pyrrha had recently seemed more lively. Walter surmised she was probably just opening up to her new team and he couldn't blame her on that regard. Caution was an admirable trait after all.

A silence fell on the other table as Blake got up to leave. Half hearted attempts to stop her fell on deaf ears as she walked away, clearly bothered. She passed by team PRWN's table without so much as a "hi" before disappearing down the stairs.

"I thought she got better after the food fight..." Ruby walked up to PRWN's table.

Ah yes, the food fight.

"You mean she was moping even before this?" The monkey Faunus asked out loud, "well, no use in getting infected with the frowns. Let's go follow her."

"Dude, I think this is a bit personal for her," his blue haired fried said.

"Which is why friends exist!" The blonde responded, "You don't strangers barge in on personal matters like this!"

Everyone nearby suppressed a groan.

"Maybe you can ask Wally to break the ice," Yang suggested, "I mean if you think about it, he's pretty much the Blake of their team. Quiet, wears dark clothes, reads a lot of books..."

Her voice trailed off as she fixed Walter another one of scheming looks.

"Blake and I are quite different," Walter huffed, "While reading is good for you, I do so out of necessity as I have a lot to catch up on."

Walter showed the book's title to emphasize his point.

"I was right...he's giving in! Tehee!" Ruby giggled before slapping her own cheek, "Ack! Focus! Blake issue!"

"My, my your little sister might outpace you soon Yang," Walter smirked.

"Yeah, I'm not too worried about that," Yang flicked her hair, "So back to our Blake issue?"

"We could corner her in the room tonight," Weiss suggested, "Even she would need to sleep sometime, plus she left her stuff there."

It was true. All of the team's weapons were kept in their rooms when not in their rocket lockers.

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

~ Several days ago, Dr. Watts ~

"I didn't think I'd be saying this," Dr. Watts hit the final keys somewhat forcefully, "but I'm actually happy you were sent along. This little diversion has kept me from my work far longer than I would have hoped."

"Ehe hehe, oh but it's so much more fun when more people are involved doctor!" Tyrian giggled.

 _"No. Not in all cases."_ Dr. Watts kept this opinion to himself, however, as he surveyed Tyrian's handiwork.

"Well we did what we came to do," the exiled doctor brushed his coat of imagined dust, "it's up to the new hired help now. Honestly, can't that woman do anything right?"

To think that an Atlesian scientist who once commanded an entire research division was reduced to performing chores such as this galled Arthur Watts to no end. However, the fact that the objective of his mission was directly related to Atlas brought him some grim satisfaction.

A large robotic hand lowered itself to give Watts a comfortable ride. He had refused to ride inside the blatantly uninspired machine _developed_ by the Defense Division. Tyrian hopped on the shoulder of another machine, looking decidedly lazy now that there was no one around to stop them. The other machines in the cargo hold also rose, gathering up crates of weapons, ammunition and other miscellaneous equipment. It had been a simple thing to program the Paladin's internal A.I. to follow his commands. Arthur had warned the committee that their over reliance on cross compatible technology would come back to haunt them.

And it did.

* * *

~ Beacon Academy, Dorms ~

Blake moved silently through the hallway partially out of habit and partially due to her feline heritage. Her mind was random raffle on how to obtain other sources of possible White Fang activities in Vale. Her search using the internet had yielded some possible activities but nothing concrete. Those recruitment drives in the chat rooms didn't sound urgent or even forceful, having the tenor of teenagers daring each other to do some stunt. This meant that the arrests of members in the docks were either from a cell or were simply those who chose to act independently. Either way, it was a good enough indication that the White Fang was not officially working with Torchwick.

Blake was relieved that she could avoid having to confront the White Fang command structure and instead expose the scam Torchwick had which involved using the White Fang as scapegoats. Aside from looking for indications of White Fang activities, Blake had also researched Roman Torchwick's history. What she learned, aside from that of the news, was that the man was consummate thief, through and through. Short of murder, no act was beyond him as long as he got what he wanted and Blake theorized that fooling the rank and file White Fang members and then leaving them to take the fall just before the authorities apprehended him was just an ordinary day for Roman.

Once Blake arrived at her team's room she paused to listen. Excited voices floated outward as she strained to hear the subject. It sounded like Yang decided to tease someone again and it (once again) escalated to involve the entire team. Though she normally disliked the noise, this time Blake prayed it would actually mask her presence long enough to retrieve Gambol Shroud and then exit without any questions.

Blake steered to the side to avoid Ruby and Weiss, who were both taking turns to try shut down whatever Yang had instigated prior to this. Despite herself Blake smiled at the scene. Long ago she had thought that all Schnees were out to squeeze the lifeblood out of its workers, with the most hazardous of work and environment happening to be the Faunus. However, Weiss seemed to be alright, declaring her intent to improve her family's reputation. Normally Blake wouldn't be so trusting of just words but the Schnee heiress was slowly warming up to Ruby had proven Blake that she could work with others of a different background or maybe Ruby's refreshingly goodhearted outlook had melted the team's Ice Queen.

Whether it was one or both, the scene only strengthened Blake's resolve to stop Roman Torchwick as quickly as possible. Any possible progress for a future where the Faunus were no longer discriminated would be set back by years if the White Fan's name would be connected to criminal activities. Simply typing the organization's name brought up several rumormongering websites about their involvement in the string of robberies. She opened her footlocker and took out Gambol Shroud.

 _Got it._

Turning around as casually as she could Blake didn't realize the arguing stopped and found her team surrounding her in a half circle. Yang stood to the side beside the window, no doubt anticipating it as an escape route. Unless she used her Semblance, Blake would have little hope escaping that way as Yang was decently fast and could carry two members of the team over shoulders if she had to.

"Hey guys," Blake said as nonchalantly as she could, "don't mind me. Just picking up a few things."

"Stop right there!" Weiss commanded as Blake began to move past them.

"Lately you've been moody, distracted and anti-social - "

"The Defense offers that that is not 'un- _Blakey_ '" Yang chuckled out loud.

"So, Blake Belladonna, what's wrong?" Weiss continued as if Yang didn't speak up, "I thought we were going to try to be a better team?"

"I-It's just, I don't understand how people can be so relaxed after the docks!" Blake finally cried out.

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked, "we stopped Torchwick's heist. He should be laying low for quite some time."

"We caught White Fang _members_ ," Blake explained patiently to Ruby, "not Torchwick. Without him, the blame will fall on the White Fang as a group, maybe even for the entire string of Dust Robberies. I...know how the leadership right now works. They'll try to strike a balance between making demands and action, but they will always be ready to do violence if ever they feel threatened enough."

"A major incident like a White Fang attack could set back any progress that took the Faunus years to build," Blake continued, "You don't know how far some members will go to make a statement."

"I do," Weiss interjected, causing Blake to flinch, "So if it's such a Red Dust keg, why haven't you told someone like Ozpin? The police I can understand but surely the word of Beacon's headmaster won't be easily ignored."

"We - had a talk a couple of days ago," Blake revealed, "he asked me if something was wrong but when I gave a hint of my problem I realized he was the type to watch and react, not prevent a problem. It works some of the time but I have a feeling this isn't one of those times."

"I see, and you think you can do better than trained Huntsmen and Huntresses?" Weiss crossed her arms.

"Weiss..." Yang said in a warning tone. She had an idea of what Blake was planning and while she disagreed on the methodology, Yang preferred action and found it got results.

"What are you going to do if you find Torchwick? What would you do if he was surrounded by White Fang members who are willing to fight even a fellow Faunus?" Weiss made sure to make her voice challenging but not condescending.

It was pretty hard considering her father used both tones on her and her private tutors were never too harsh either. Her older sister, Winter, did however, coach her whenever she had time to spare and Weiss tried to draw inspiration from those precious few interactions. On the other hand, she had gotten a feel for Yang's temperament. The blonde had a tendency to be overprotective of everyone close to her but this would obviously lead to people becoming spoiled. Yang in a way, had gotten used to intimidating people with physical strength and so backing down meant that she would not respect you in the long run if it appeared you were complaining for its own sake. Or at least that's what Weiss believed.

"In short, I'm asking her what her plan is." She returned Yang's look.

"Uh, stop the bad guys?" Ruby answered feeling left out of the conversation.

"Didn't you hear any of what we said?" Weiss sighed, "Roman Torchwick is a pretty slippery character and the White Fang aren't a bunch of street thugs. We, on the other hand, while possessing considerable skills, are just kids. We're not ready!"

"And we may never be ready!" Blake cried in frustration, "but they aren't going to wait for us to graduate or even fight us on even terms but we have to do something or..."

Blake trailed off, too caught up in an emotional whirlpool of frustration, worry and despair. Ruby, meanwhile was trying her hardest to think of a plan. It was what good leaders were supposed to excel in, right? Plus Huntsmen and Huntresses were duty bound to help people, but what sort of Huntresses would they be if they couldn't help their own to begin with?

"Hey, maybe," Ruby began, "We don't have to face them head on!" She pounded her palm.

The team gave her different reactions. Yang looked excited, Blake hopeful, and Weiss had a cocked eyebrow.

"If we can find out what Torchwick is planning, or better yet where his hideout is we can have enough info that someone like professor Ozpin will have to take action, or at least tell the Police!"

"There really is no convincing anyone in this room of seeing reason is there?!" Weiss threw up her arms in frustration, "Look! Can we at least agree to tell someone of what we're doing?"

"We can tell Coco or Pyrrha's team." Yang suggested.

"Right, Weiss and I will check out the Schnee Dust Company's records, Blake..."

The evening passed quickly, with girls going over multiple ideas in hushed but eager tones as they refined their plan of action for the next day.

* * *

~ unknown location, Tukson ~

Tukson woke up feeling disoriented. Whoever grabbed him did it pretty quickly and with little regard for what method they used to knock him out. Slowly as the rest of his body woke up, he realized his head was covered in a kind of sack cloth used to prevent the wearer from seeing where he was being taken. Plus the thin air inside added to the victim's disorientation. He tested his limbs.

Bound. All four of them.

He tried to extend his claws to try and cut himself loose only to discover a cold feeling on his hands. It was a special type of restraint that prevented Faunus with claws from extending them to use.

Tukson twisted and turned in place as he tried to find some way to loosen the bindings. At the same time he tried to guess as to who kidnapped him. The most likely culprit would be Atlas agents. One of the reasons why Tukson was in a hurry to leave was because he knew the Atlesians would be coming in force for the Vytal Festival under the pretense of "security". It would make sense that they would send advanced agents to scout out Vale. It wouldn't be out of character for them. He also wouldn't be surprised if they had a dossier on him, being a wanted Faunus and all.

There were other reasons to leave of course but...

"Hey! He's awake!" said a voice, "Go get the leader."

Leader? As far as he knew White Fang typically used that designation. Criminals tended to use "Boss" or "Big Guy" or some other slang while the authorities used their rank. If he was captured by the White Fang then it would also make sense. He had planned to leave the organization after all. He took solace in the fact that most Faunus, in an attempt to stay united, typically refrained from violence among their own kind. Still, that didn't mean that there were no incidents among them, especially to those who were perceived to betray their kind. It was this thought that kept hims struggling to find a way to loosen his restraints. Within minutes of fruitless struggling, Tukson heard footsteps approaching and he ceased his attempts to escape to better conserve his energy.

As the set of feet approached him Tukson was lifted up roughly into a sitting position before having the cloth ripped free from his head. Despite initially squinting in order to let his eyes adjust they widened involuntarily, but the pain he received from this action was only a preview of what was to come.

A man with red hair and dark clothes stood over him like a judge preparing to hand out a sentence. Adam spoke in a flat tone.

"Hello, traitor."

* * *

Author's note:

Soooo...Its been a while eh? Rather than turn this section into my little journal the only thing I'll say is that work and other hobbies kept me away. The good thing about this hiatus is that it allows me to go over scenarios again until I find a much better one than I originally made. For this arc, many would see that Roman's death has caused some plans to accelerate. As always, major scenarios are more or less ready for typing, its the scenes in between that will take time. For those segments I'll try to focus more on Team PRWN in order to avoid typing up scenes everyone has probably seen twice.

See you all in the next chapter!


End file.
